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Obol Kleitor
| Issuer | Arcadian League |
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| Year | 465 BC - 460 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Zeus seated left in an archaic style, rendered in high relief with bold, somewhat schematic musculature typical of early Classical Peloponnesian coinage. The figure is depicted in a dynamic pose, with the body turned and limbs extended, characteristic of the artistic conventions of Arcadian silver issues of the early fifth century BC. The flan is irregular and the strike slightly off-center, as is common for hammered issues of this period and denomination. |
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| Reverse description | Head of a male figure, likely a local hero or deity, facing right within an incuse square, rendered in archaic profile with large almond-shaped eye, prominent nose, and wearing a Corinthian helmet pushed back on the head. The incuse square is shallow and irregular, consistent with early Arcadian hammered technique. The style reflects early Classical die-cutting as practiced in the Peloponnese around 465–460 BC. No visible legend, as is standard for this small obol denomination from Kleitor. |
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Kleitor was one of the smaller Arcadian poleis, situated inland near the headwaters of the Aroanios river, and its participation in the short-lived Arcadian League coinage of the 460s BC places this piece within one of the earliest known federal monetary experiments in the Greek world. The league's coins were struck in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Dipaia, roughly 471 BC, when the Arcadians had faced Sparta in open field — a rare act of collective defiance that briefly unified communities otherwise prone to fragmentation.
Williams 72 is among the scarcer kleitorian attributions in the confederate series.