Ancients: Macedon, Amphipolis. Ca. 356/5 B.C. AR tetradrachm,...

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Macedon, Amphipolis. Ca. 356/5 B.C. AR tetradrachm, (23 mm, 13.28 g, 1 h). Laureate head of Apollo facing slightly right / Torch and grain within thick linear square border inscribed with ethnic; all within in incuse square. Lorber 45 (O25/R36); SNG ANS -; AMNG III/2, p. 31, 9, pl. VIII, 10 = Traité II 1101a, pl. CCCXXI, 1 (same dies); BMFA 540 = Warren 548 (same dies). Fine NGC, toned, some graininess. Very rare.

This great rarity was struck by the city of Amphipolis. Originally known as Ennia Hodoi - Nine Ways - the site on the Strymon River was fortified early. Xerxes I recognized its strategic location during the Persian invasion of Greece, when he buried nine young men and nine maidens alive as a sacrifice to the river god. In 437 B.C., the city was settled by Athenian colonists and received the name Amphipolis. This name, which literally means "around the city," has been variously explained by the flow of the Strymon around the city on two sides or because much of the population supposedly lived around the outside of the fortifications. The city was a major object of contention between Athens and Sparta during the Peloponnesian War.

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