ILLYRIA. Lychnidos. Circa 188-170 BC. AE (Bronze, 15 mm, 4.09 g, 12 h). Macedonian shield adorned with stars and crescents; central boss decorated with strovilos. Rev. ΛYXNI/ΔIΩN Prow to right. Liampi (1998), p. 149, M 110. Of the highest rarity, the finest of just four known examples, only two of which are in private hands. Extremely fine.


The city of Lychnidos lay on the shores of Lake Ohrid, the second largest lake of the Balkan peninsula and one of the oldest lakes on earth. With only four known examples (two in Ohrid, one in CNG 45 (1998), 300 and our piece), its coinage is so rare that the mint was not even included in Hoover's Handbook of Greek Coinage series. The types are of particular interest, as the obverse alludes to Macedonian control of the region in the first half of the 2nd century BC, whereas the ship on the reverse hints at the richness in fish for which Lake Ohrid is still famous today.