CYCLADES, Thera. Circa 525/20-500 BC. Stater (Silver, 21 mm, 12.23 g). Two dolphins swimming in opposite directions. Rev. Incuse square of 'Union Jack' pattern. Boston MFA 1296 (same dies). Boutin, Egée, 30 (this coin). McClean 7306. Rosen 243. Sheedy 1d (this coin, R1). SNG Copenhagen 459 ('Megara'). Very rare. The obverse struck slightly off center and with some die breaks on the reverse, otherwise, good fine.


Thera is the main island of the Santorini archipelago, which consists of five islands in total, all of which are the remnants of a large caldera created by the so-called Minoan eruption. As one of the largest volcanic events in human history, the massive eruption tore the island apart sometime in the 2nd millenium BC, dispersing pyroclasts and ash clouds throughout the eastern Mediterranean. The tephra from the eruption has been found in numerous archaeological sites and serves as a marker horizon, making the dating of the event a hotly debated topic. It is generally assumed that the volcano erupted circa 1600 BC, but a final consensus has not yet been reached.