Stater

Phaistos, one of the oldest cities on Crete, was already in sharp decline by the time these staters were struck — the city had been largely subordinated by Gortyn during the fourth century and would be completely destroyed by its neighbor sometime around 150 BC. That these coins exist at all reflects a final, assertive phase of civic identity from a polis watching its autonomy compress. The Svoronos classification places this among a well-documented but genuinely scarce series; the Lockett specimen, dispersed at Glendining's 1955 sale, remains a key reference point for condition standards within the type.