Phokis federal coinage. Elateia 2nd century BC. AE (19mm,
8,00gr.). Bearded head of Asklepios left. R/ EΛATEΩN left up. Helmeted
Athena standing r. with shield and spear, to right tripod. SNG
Copenhagen -;BMC 1, pl. IV, 26. VF+ and extremely rare (only 2 in
private hands)

Elateia continued to survive but the economy was declining as there
was no incentive for it to flourish again.
This is probably the reason that the Elateian coins from this time
onwards become increasingly rare. Efforts
were surely made to reorganize the coinage and this heavier issue with
Asklepios [Pausanias x.34.6] on the
obverse and the statue of Athena Kranaia [Pausanias x.34.7] on the
reverse, struck from more than one pair
of dies, probably circulated from about the middle of the second
century up to the first decade of the first
century BC. The frequent countermarking on these coins and the worn
state in which they are usually found
(see next lot) indicates that the city was going through fiscal
difficulties and had to repeatedly revalue its
existing coinage without being able to issue new types.