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Obol
| Issuer | Neapolis (Macedon) |
|---|---|
| Year | 500 BC - 480 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Obol (⅙) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
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| Technique | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Full-face gorgoneion depicted in high relief, filling the entire flan. The grotesque visage displays large, deeply recessed almond-shaped eyes, a broad flattened nose, and wide gaping mouth with a protruding tongue and prominent tusks at the corners. The hair is rendered as a series of tight, stylized serpentine locks arranged across the forehead, characteristic of the archaic artistic convention. The bold, frontal treatment is executed with considerable skill for a small denomination, conveying the apotropaic intensity typical of early Macedonian coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse description | Plain quadripartite incuse square divided by a raised cross-shaped ridge into four recessed rectangular compartments of roughly equal size, the result of a simple punch technique characteristic of early Greek coinage. The incuse design is deeply struck and slightly asymmetric, consistent with hand-hammered production. No legend or subsidiary devices are present. The surface of the compartments retains granular texture from the original striking. |
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| Additional information |
Neapolis, the modern Kavala, was a Thasian colonial foundation that served as the primary coastal entry point into the Macedonian interior. Its early silver coinage predates Macedonian royal dominance of the region and reflects the city's commercial independence during a period when Thrace and the northern Aegean were contested by Persian expansion — Xerxes' army passed directly through this coast en route to Greece around 480 BC.
SNG ANS 423 places this obol within a tightly defined early series distinguished from later Neapolitan issues by fabric alone.