Obol M A

Massalia — modern Marseille — was a Phocaean Greek colony whose mint operated with remarkable continuity for roughly three centuries, and these tiny fractional silvers were the workhorses of local Mediterranean trade throughout that span. The city maintained effective independence from both Carthaginian and early Roman pressure largely through commercial wealth, and its coinage circulated well beyond Provence into Celtic Gaul, where hoards confirm widespread indigenous acceptance.

Production effectively ended after Massalia backed Pompey against Caesar, a catastrophic political miscalculation that cost the city its autonomy in 49 BC.