MACEDON. Akanthos. Circa 480-470 BC. Tetradrachm (Silver, 29 mm, 17.00 g). Lion to right, attacking a bull collapsing to left with head raised; above, pellet-in-annulet; in exergue, stylized akanthos flower. Rev. Raised quadripartite square. Boston MFA 519. Desneux -, cf. 61-63 (unlisted dies). SNG ANS 10. Lightly toned and of vigorous late Archaic style. A few light marks, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.


Akanthos lay on the eastern shore of the Chalkidiki, near the narrowest point of the Athos peninsula. Reportedly founded by colonists from Andros in 655 BC, the city's wealth grew from the export of agricultural goods and timber from the nearby forests, but also from the silver mined in the Thraco-Macedonian hinterland. In fact, the city's coinage was substantial, and its Archaic and Classical tetradrachms have been found as far away as Sicily, Egypt and Persia, indicating that many were exported as coined bullion rather than being used as currency.