Oktadrachm - Za[...]

Abdera, the Thracian coastal colony founded (or re-founded, sources differ) by Teos refugees fleeing Persian expansion around 545 BC, began producing large silver oktadrachms almost immediately upon establishing itself. These heavy coins were minted to facilitate trade along the northern Aegean littoral, where Thracian silver resources were abundant and commercial exchange with the interior demanded high-value portable currency. The May reference corpus remains the primary scholarly framework for this series, with relatively few specimens attributable to the earliest emission groups.