Obol

Massalia — modern Marseille — was founded around 600 BC by Phocaean Greeks and became the dominant Greek commercial presence in the western Mediterranean. Its coinage circulated widely among indigenous Gaulish tribes, who eventually began producing imitative issues of their own. This obol belongs to the archaic series predating those imitations, struck when the colony was aggressively expanding trade relationships up the Rhône corridor.

The Phocaean weight standard underlying this piece differs subtly from Attic norms — a deliberate choice reflecting Massalia's commercial independence from Athens.