Phokaia's coinage was among the earliest electrum and silver struck in the Greek world, produced by a city whose merchant fleets ranged as far west as Massalia — modern Marseille — which Phokians themselves founded around 600 BC. The trihemiobol denomination served the fractional needs of a port economy where small transactions demanded small silver. These tiny flans were hand-cut and individually punched, so dimensional inconsistency is the rule rather than the exception.
Phokaia's coinage was among the earliest electrum and silver struck in the Greek world, produced by a city whose merchant fleets ranged as far west as Massalia — modern Marseille — which Phokians themselves founded around 600 BC. The trihemiobol denomination served the fractional needs of a port economy where small transactions demanded small silver. These tiny flans were hand-cut and individually punched, so dimensional inconsistency is the rule rather than the exception.