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Diobol
| Issuer | Mesembria |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 350 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | 1.40 g |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Greek |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | A four-spoked wheel with a central boss or pellet, the four spokes dividing the field into quadrants, each containing one letter of the civic ethnic: Μ (upper), Ε (right), Τ (lower), Α (left), reading ΜΕΤΑ — the abbreviated ethnic of Mesembria. The wheel is enclosed within a raised circular border, itself surrounded by a radiating serrated or striated outer border, creating a distinctive decorative frame characteristic of Mesembrian coinage. The design is boldly struck and well-centered. |
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| Additional information |
Mesembria — modern Nesebar on Bulgaria's Black Sea coast — was a Dorian colony founded by settlers from Chalcedon and Byzantium, probably in the late sixth century BC. The city occupied a small peninsula so narrow that its name is often read as "land of Melsas," after a legendary Megarian leader, though the "bria" suffix simply means "town" in Thracian. Sandwiched between Greek colonial ambitions and Odrysian Thracian power, it maintained enough commercial independence to strike its own silver throughout the classical period.
The multiple SNG references attest to how frequently these small silvers turn up in Black Sea regional collections.