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Obol
| Issuer | Larissa (Thessaly) |
|---|---|
| Year | 479 BC - 460 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Head of a female figure, most likely a nymph or goddess associated with the city of Larissa, facing left in profile. The hair is rendered in fine archaic style, drawn back and secured with a simple diadem or wreath, with loosely arranged locks falling to the nape of the neck. The portrait exhibits the characteristic serene expression and stylized linear treatment of early Thessalian coinage. The flan is irregular and slightly convex, with no surrounding legend. The field is smooth and unadorned, framing the effigy within the natural boundary of the coin's edge. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Larissa's position as the dominant polis of the Thessalian plain gave its coinage unusual reach for a region often overshadowed numismatically by Athens and Corinth. This obol falls within the period following the Persian withdrawal from Thessaly after Xerxes' campaign — a moment when local aristocratic families, the Aleuadae chief among them, reasserted civic authority and resumed independent minting after their controversial collaboration with the invaders.
The BCD Thessaly II reference places this among a tightly sequenced group distinguished by subtle die-link progressions that specialists use to refine the chronology within the broad 479–460 window.