ILLYRO-PAEONIAN REGION. Damastion (Dardania). Circa 330-280 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 25 mm, 12.82 g, 6 h). Laureate head of Apollo to right. Rev. ΔΑΜΑΣ - ΤΙΝΩΝ ( retrograde N ) Tripod lebes with lion’s feet on a small base. May - (style close to 92-93). Boldly struck in high relief, lightly toned and with an obverse of slightly barbaric style, seemingly modeled on the tetrobols of Philip II. Flan fault on the reverse, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

From the Trausnitz Collection, ex Sternberg XXI, 14 November 1988, 94.

The city of Damastion was located somewhere in what is now present day Serbia and was inhabited by people of Illyrian/Dardanian origin; though there were Greek settlers there as well, at least from the 5th century on. The city’s importance lay in its silver mines, the location of which are as yet unknown, as is the site of the city itself. The coinage, with obverses modeled on those of the Chalkidian League, was designed as a way of exporting the city’s mineral riches. The coins themselves are often very attractive, though there are some that are of rather poor style and many are badly struck; they are generally very rare today, probably because they were viewed primarily as bullion and melted down in antiquity.