PONTOS. Trapezos. 4th century BC. Trihemiobol (Silver, 11 mm, 1.49 g, 3 h), struck under the magistrate Tau..... Bearded male head to left; border of dots. Rev. ΤΡΑ Table; below, ΤΑΥ. SNG BM 1295. SNG Stancomb 726 = SNG von Aulock 6783 ( same dies ). Extremely rare. Well-struck, nicely toned and attractive. Extremely fine.

From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex Münzen und Medaillen 41, 18 June 1970, 115 and Hess-Leu 36, 17 April 1968, 243.

The city's name, Trapezos, means table in Greek and refers to the table-like hill between the two rivers on which the city was founded by Milesians in c. 756 BC. The city, which much later became the capital of the Empire of the Trebizond (1204-1461) was a major center for trade between Persia, the Caucasus and Anatolia. For obvious reasons the city used a table as its coin type: sometimes topped by piles of coins (!) showing its wealth.