Tetradrachm

This issue falls within one of the most consequential decades in Athenian history — the period following the catastrophic Sicilian Expedition of 415–413 BC, which gutted Athenian naval power and emboldened subject allies to defect. Samos was a conspicuous exception. The island remained loyally Athenian through the oligarchic coup of 411 BC, and Athens reciprocally granted the Samians full Athenian citizenship that year — an extraordinary and nearly unprecedented gesture. These tetradrachms circulated in that charged political environment, on an island that briefly became the operational base of the Athenian fleet and the de facto seat of democratic government in exile.

Barron's die study remains the foundational reference for the series.