Chalkon

Tegea occupied a strategically uncomfortable position in the fourth century — nominally allied with Sparta for generations, then pivoting sharply toward Thebes following the Battle of Leuctra in 371 BC. This small bronze issue falls squarely within that realignment period, when Tegea was a founding member of the Arcadian League and the newly built city of Megalopolis was actively drawing population away from smaller Arcadian centers. That Tegea continued striking its own civic bronze rather than deferring entirely to League coinage signals a degree of retained local autonomy.