Obol

Phlious was a small polis in the northeastern Peloponnese whose coinage output was modest by any measure, yet the city punched above its weight politically — it remained stubbornly loyal to Sparta through the Corinthian War even as neighboring states defected, a stance that earned it a Spartan garrison and considerable internal strife by the 380s BC. This obol would have circulated precisely during that turbulent period of factional expulsions and democratic reversals that Xenophon documented in the Hellenica.

At 18mm for a nominal obol of 0.40g, the flan is unusually broad and thin for the denomination, a characteristic noted in the BCD collection and consistent across the HGC 5 attributions for this type.