4 Obol / 1 Tetrobol Ancient Greece (1100BC-330) Silver

Weight: 1.7-2.6 g

Diameter: 12.2-13mm

Histiaia, named after its patron nymph, commanded a strategic position overlooking the narrows leading to the North Euboian Gulf. In the Illiad, Homer describes the surrounding plain as “rich in vines.” In 480 B.C. the city was overrun by the Persians. After the Persian Wars it became a member of the Delian Confederacy. In 446 the Euboians revolted, seized an Athenian ship and murdered its crew. They were promptly reduced by Athens. Perikles exiled the population to Macedonia and replaced them with Athenians. The exiled population probably returned at the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404; thereafter they seem to have been largely under the control of Sparta until they joined the Second Athenian Confederacy in 376-375. The city appears to have become a member (for the first time) of the reconstituted league of Euboian cities in 340, but its allegiance during most of the 4th century seems to have vacillated between Athens and Macedonia. It was pro-Macedonian during the 3rd century, for which it was attacked in 208 and captured in 199 by a Roman-Pergamene force. The Roman garrison was removed in 194. To judge from the wide distribution of its coinage Histiaia continued to prosper. Little is known of its later history, but finds at the site indicate it continued to be inhabited in Roman, Byzantine, and later times.

References

Head, Barclay. A Catalog of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Central Greece. (London, 1884).

Klein, Dieter. Sammlung von griechischen Kleinsilbermünzen und Bronzen, Nomismata 3. (Milano, 1999).

Numismatik Lanz. Münzen von Euboia: Sammlung BCD. Auction 111 (25 November 2002, München).

Sear, David. Greek Coins and Their Values, Volume 1: Europe. (London, 1978).

Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Denmark, The Royal Collection of Coins and Medals, Danish National Museum. (Copenhagen, 1942-1979).

Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Greece 6. The Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection. From Thessaly to Euboea. (Athens, 2011).