CARIA. Idyma. Circa 450-430 BC. Obol (Silver, 8 mm, 0.52 g, 4 h). Dolphin swimming to left. Rev. Five-lobed leaf ( Turkish or Oriental Sweetgum: liquidambar orientalis ) within a square incuse with rounded corners. HN Online 2305 and 2050 (for the distinction see below). SNG Kayhan I 789 var. Rare. A most unusual and enigmatic coin. Clearly struck and toned. Obverse struck slightly off-center, otherwise, good very fine.

From the "Collection sans Pareille" of Ancient Greek Fractions, ex Spink's NCirc CI, 10, December 1993, R1004.

This coin has been somewhat confusingly described in HN Online: 2305 supposedly has a square incuse reverse while 2050 has a 'roughly round' one. In fact, there seem to be incuses that are round, slightly rounded, shaped (i.e. mirroring the shape of the type) and square (albeit with slightly rounded corners!). The really big difference is in the leaves, some of which are clearly fig-leaves, with 5 widely separated lobes, and others, with fully connected lobes, which cannot be fig-leaves: they are certainly from another tree native to the area, the Oriental Sweetgum.