Aspendos, a prosperous Pamphylian city on the Eurymedon River, began striking its own coinage in the fifth century BC largely on the strength of its salt trade and position as a regional commercial hub. This obol belongs to the archaic phase of that coinage, predating the city's better-known stater series that would dominate its output through the fourth century.
The SNG von Aulock 4485 reference places this among a tightly catalogued group of early fractional issues — small denomination silver that rarely survived antiquity in any volume, given how easily such lightweight pieces were lost in circulation.
Aspendos, a prosperous Pamphylian city on the Eurymedon River, began striking its own coinage in the fifth century BC largely on the strength of its salt trade and position as a regional commercial hub. This obol belongs to the archaic phase of that coinage, predating the city's better-known stater series that would dominate its output through the fourth century.
The SNG von Aulock 4485 reference places this among a tightly catalogued group of early fractional issues — small denomination silver that rarely survived antiquity in any volume, given how easily such lightweight pieces were lost in circulation.