Selymbria sat on the Propontis coast in a perpetually awkward position — nominally allied with Athens during much of the fifth century, yet sufficiently independent to strike its own civic coinage. The city's resistance to Alcibiades' siege in 408 BC is one of the better-documented episodes of its history, and coinage from precisely this window may have supported local military expenditure during that standoff.
The oktobol denomination — eight obols — is uncommon in the Greek west Pontic series and points to a locally maintained weight standard rather than strict Attic conformity.
Selymbria sat on the Propontis coast in a perpetually awkward position — nominally allied with Athens during much of the fifth century, yet sufficiently independent to strike its own civic coinage. The city's resistance to Alcibiades' siege in 408 BC is one of the better-documented episodes of its history, and coinage from precisely this window may have supported local military expenditure during that standoff.
The oktobol denomination — eight obols — is uncommon in the Greek west Pontic series and points to a locally maintained weight standard rather than strict Attic conformity.