ISLANDS OFF ELIS, Kephallenia. Kranion. Circa 400 BC. Hemiobol (Silver, 7 mm, 0.26 g, 11 h). Large Κ in the field. Rev. Large Η with a pellet below the crossbar; all within a circular incuse. Apparently unpublished and the second example known. For the second piece, see Kricheldorf XIX, 1968, 258 (but misnumbered 259 on the plate); and cf. BMC 47 for a bronze piece with the same types, though seemingly lacking the pellet. Extremely rare, toned, clear and most intriguing. Good very fine.

From the BCD Collection, added to the "Collection sans Pareille" by BCD in honour of its late owner, who was a good friend and colleague for over a generation, and who would have loved owning this coin!.

This unique piece, while it looks rather early in date due to its simplicity, probably was struck either in the late 5th century or, even, early in the 4th. One reason for this is that in the British Museum there is a bronze coin from Kranion bearing the same types: it is 15 mm in diameter and is generally dated to the 4th century. This almost certainly means that soon after our silver piece was issued, it was decided to replace Kranion's small silver coin denominations with bronzes. To make their relationship clear, the new bronze hemiobol bore the same types as the silver hemiobol it replaced.