Ancient Greece - 280-200 BCE Thracian Kingdom, Odessus AV Stater NGC Choice VF

THRACE. Odessus. Alexander III the Great (336-323 BC). AV stater (8.46 gm). NGC Choice VF 4/5 - 3/5. Posthumous issue, circa 280-200 BC. Obverse: head of Athena right, hair flowing loose in waves and over left shoulder, upswept at temple, wearing pendant earring, necklace and triple-crested Corinthian helmet pushed back on head, short parallel crest ends, the bowl decorated with coiled serpent right. Reverse: AΛEΞANΔPOY / BA-ΣIΛEΩΣ, Nike standing left, right hand outstretched, stylis cradled in left arm; ΔOI monogram in inner left field below wing, OΔ monogram in inner right field below wing. Reference: Price 1135. Lustrous surfaces of golden honey.

Remains of ancient Roman Odessus (modern day Varna, Bulgaria). Photo: wikipedia.

Odessus is one of the oldest ancient settlements in Bulgaria. It was established in the second quarter of the sixth century BC (585-550 BC) by Miletian Greeks and was at that time a Thracian settlement. The Miletian founded an apoikia (trading post) at Odessus near the end of the 7^th century BC. The earliest Greek archaeological material is dated from 600-575 BC. Odessus was a mixed community, a contact zone between the Ionian Greeks and the Thracian tribes of the hinterlands. Excavations at nearby Thracian sites demonstrate uninterrupted occupation from the 7^th to the 4^th century BC and close commercial relations within the colony. The Greek alphabet has been used for inscriptions in Thracian since at least the 5^th century BC. Odessus was included in the assessment of the Delian League of 435 BC. In 339 BC it was unsuccessfully besieged by Philip II, but surrendered to Alexander the Great in 335 BC.