Methymna, the second city of Lesbos, maintained enough political independence from neighboring Mytilene to strike its own coinage well into the fourth century — no small feat on an island dominated by one powerful polis. When Mytilene and the other Lesboan cities joined the ill-fated revolt against Athens in 428 BC, Methymna refused, a loyalty that bought it decades of relative autonomy and, critically, the continued right to mint. The McClean specimen (7987) is among the better-documented examples of this series, with the BMC Greek concordance placing it firmly within the later phase of the type's production run.
Methymna, the second city of Lesbos, maintained enough political independence from neighboring Mytilene to strike its own coinage well into the fourth century — no small feat on an island dominated by one powerful polis. When Mytilene and the other Lesboan cities joined the ill-fated revolt against Athens in 428 BC, Methymna refused, a loyalty that bought it decades of relative autonomy and, critically, the continued right to mint. The McClean specimen (7987) is among the better-documented examples of this series, with the BMC Greek concordance placing it firmly within the later phase of the type's production run.