Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
Obol
| Issuer | Tanagra |
|---|---|
| Year | 400 BC - 350 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Obol (⅙) |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Boeotian shield rendered in high relief, depicted facing, with the characteristic curved cutouts on either side forming the distinctive double-arc openings. The shield's convex boss dominates the central field, surrounded by the incurved rim. The design is boldly executed in the archaic Greek hammered tradition, with strong three-dimensional relief typical of Boeotian civic coinage. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Plain |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Tanagra's independent coinage was always modest in output, reflecting a city that punched above its weight politically — most famously when its citizens sided with Sparta against the Theban-led Boiotian League at the Battle of Tanagra in 457 BC. This obol falls within the period of renewed Spartan dominance following Leuktra's aftermath, when Boiotian civic identity was being actively contested and local minting carried quiet political weight.
The BCD collection reference places this among a tightly documented group; the BCD Boiotia sale at Lanz in 2002 remains the benchmark for attributing these minor silver fractions.