Ancient Greek Bronze Coin - Dolphin Shaped, c. 437-410 BC

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Bronze Dolphin Coin, Ancient Greece – Olbia (Black Sea), c. 437-410 BC

Cast bronze Dolphin shaped coin – Dolphin, right

Rev: APIXO on blank surface

Ref: SNG-BM Black Sea 374-6

41mm, 4.17gm

Scarce, very fine, with glossy dark patina

These coins, cast in the shape of a dolphin, are totally different from other Greek coins.They are cast, and older by over 200 years than the earliest Italic and Roman cast money. They are made of bronze about 100 years earlier than the earliest bronze Sicilian coins.  Finally, they are made in the shape of a sea mammal, the dolphin (the ancient Greeks considered the dolphin to be a fish). There was no other such money in the Greek world.

Bronze dolphins first appeared in Olbia between 550-525 B.C. Apollo-Dolphinium had been the most important god of the Miletian settlers, and the dolphin was the main attribute of this god. Small, cast dolphins at first were made as sacrificial subjects for Apollo, but soon they became currency, employed by the local settlers as a primitive money, circulating in Olbia and vicinity. Around 438-410 BC, the dolphin issue was taken under control of the polis. Dolphins became flat on one side and an inscription appeared in that area. The reverse legend APIXO is apparently a composite of the first letters for the Greek words for "arrowhead" (APDIE) and fish (IXOYZ). These dolphins were issued for a very short time, and they are rare. They were the last figure-shaped coins of the Greek world. 

  • Inventory# PA-3330
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