Obol Tegea

The Arcadian League's coinage of this period predates the more familiar federal issues and belongs to a transitional phase when Tegea was asserting influence within the confederacy — complicated by the city's historically ambiguous loyalties during the Persian Wars, when Tegea fought at Plataea but had earlier been courted by Xerxes. Federal silver at this weight circulated primarily to facilitate mercenary payments; Arcadian soldiers were among the most sought-after hoplites in the Greek world by the mid-fifth century.