Thrace Apollonia Pontika Silver Diobol Late 5th-4th Century BC

Thrace Apollonia Pontika Silver Diobol Late 5th-4th Century BC
10mm, 0.85g

Obverse, ‘gorgon’ head; reverse, anchor with ‘A’ to left and crayfish to right.
The obol was a long standing Greek currency unit, this example being of two obols; in classical Athens six obols equated to a drachm.

The City of Apollonia Pontika was founded in 610 BC by Ionian Greeks originating from Miletus in Anatolia, and was named after Apollo, of which a large bronze statue guarded the harbour. The Romans sacked the city in 72 BC and it was later renamed Sozopol in the 4th century AD following its acceptance of Christianity, which exists to the present day within Bulgaria.