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Obol - Kotys I Type II, KOTY
| Issuer | Odrysian Kingdom |
|---|---|
| Year | 383 BC - 359 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Bearded male head facing left, rendered in archaic Thracian style with short curly hair and a full beard. The effigy displays strong, naturalistic facial modeling characteristic of regional celator work of the early 4th century BC. A border of pellets encircles the design within the flan, framing the head in the field. |
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| Reverse lettering | ΚΟΤΥ |
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Kotys I ruled the Odrysian Kingdom at its second peak of regional dominance, extending Thracian influence deep into the Chersonese and maintaining a famously turbulent relationship with Athens — alternating between alliance and outright hostility over control of the northern Aegean coastline. His assassination in 359 BC, carried out by the brothers Pythodorus and Heropythus who were subsequently rewarded by Athens with golden crowns, ended a reign that had kept Macedon, Athens, and the Thracian interior in near-constant diplomatic tension.
The Type II classification distinguishes this obol from earlier issues by die characteristics documented in Peykov's corpus. At roughly one gram, these were everyday transactional coins — the bottom denomination of a silver coinage system that never achieved the volume of contemporaneous Athenian or Macedonian output.