Æ Olynthus

The Chalkidian League was dissolved by force in 348 BC when Philip II of Macedon besieged and razed Olynthus after the city appealed to Athens for an alliance — a diplomatic maneuver Philip considered an act of betrayal. The population was sold into slavery, the city leveled, and League coinage ceased abruptly. Bronze issues like this one were the everyday currency of a federated Greek state that had been a significant northern power for nearly a century before Philip ended it in a single campaign season.