Drachm

Athens struck drachms on the "old style" weight standard throughout the fifth century, but the Laurion silver mines — seized back from Spartan-occupied territory and operating at peak output around 440 BC — gave the city an almost embarrassing surplus of raw material. That abundance is why Athenian coinage of this period circulated from Egypt to the Black Sea without serious competition. Kroll 10b is distinguished from adjacent varieties by its die-cutting style, placing it within a tightly dated production cluster that numismatists associate with the early phase of Periclean building expenditure on the Acropolis.