SCYTHIA. Olbia. Ca. 437-410 BC. Cast AE dolphin (98mm, 90.05 gm). Fine. Dolphin leaping right, with defined central spine and four vertical lines, circular eye / Smooth convex surface with small + in relief. SNG BM Black Sea 359. Anokhin 173. Incredibly rare, apparently only around six known specimens, three of which are located in museum collections (Kiev Ukrainian Archaeological Museum, the British Museum, and the Moscow State Historical Museum). Green and brown patina with earthen encrustation. Founded in the late 7th century BC on the coast of present-day Ukraine, Olbia, was a colony of Miletus located at the junction of the Hyspanis and Borysthenes rivers and grew prosperous on trade between the nomadic Scythians and the Greeks. At first lacking sufficient quantities of silver or gold to institute a precious metal coinage, it instead used an innovative casting technique to produce a sizable and varied coinage in bronze. Among the earliest types is a series of denominations in the shape of dolphins, ranging in size from about 22mm and 1.5 grams to this immense piece, more than 95mm in length and weighing 90 grams. This was the largest "dolphin" type issued and today, while the smaller pieces are quite common, authentic examples are extremely rare, with only a handful of specimens extant. Olbia later acquired sufficient silver and gold through trade to institute a precious metal coinage, and is the likely mint spot for the Koson gold staters of the later first century AD.

HID09801242017

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