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Obol

Issuer Samos
Year 499 BC - 495 BC
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Value Obol (⅙)
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Obverse description Facing lion's scalp rendered in archaic style, with large forward-staring eyes, a broad flat muzzle, and stylized mane indicated by incised lines radiating around the face. The design fills the entire flan, with the powerful frontal mask characteristic of early Samian coinage of the late sixth and early fifth century BC.
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Edge Plain
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Additional information

Samos in this period was navigating the turbulent aftermath of the Ionian Revolt, during which the island's fleet played a conspicuous — and ultimately treacherous — role at the Battle of Lade in 494 BC, when a large portion of the Samian contingent broke formation and sailed home. Small fractional silver like this would have passed through the hands of sailors, merchants, and soldiers operating out of one of the Aegean's most commercially active harbors during exactly that rupture.

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