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Obol
| Issuer | Pharsalos |
|---|---|
| Year | 450 BC - 400 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Facing three-quarter right, the helmeted head of Athena is rendered in the archaic Thessalian style, wearing an Attic helmet adorned with serpents coiling along the crest. The facial features are modeled with confident, stylized strokes characteristic of fifth-century Greek provincial coinage. The neck and helmet cheek-guards are carefully delineated, with the serpentine crest ornaments providing a distinctive iconographic hallmark of the Pharsalian series. The flan is irregular, as is typical of hammered silver issues of this period. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse script | Greek |
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| Additional information |
Pharsalos was among the most politically fractious cities in Thessaly, its internal feuds between aristocratic factions — most notably the Daochos and Echekratidas families — spilling into alliances with Athens, Sparta, and eventually Macedon across this very period. Small silver fractions like this obol were the working currency of a city perpetually caught between competing hegemonies. The Thessalian League's loose structure meant individual poleis retained minting authority even as external powers competed for regional dominance.
The BCD collection reference places this piece within one of the most rigorously documented Thessalian die studies assembled in modern scholarship.