THRACE. Abdera. Circa 375/3-365/0 BC. Stater (Silver, 23 mm, 11.38 g, 8 h), Pausanias, magistrate. ΕΠΙ / [Π]ΑΥΣΑΝΙΩ Griffin seated to left, raising his right forepaw. Rev. ΑΒΔΗΡ[Ι]-ΤΕΩΝ Laureate head of Apollo to right within shallow incuse square. AMNG II 139. HGC 3.2, 1210. May, Abdera, 481 var. (A315/P-, unlisted reverse die). SNG Ashmolean 3490. SNG Fitzwilliam 1642. A lovely, beautifully toned example of excellent style. A few light marks, otherwise, nearly extremely fine.

The city of Abdera, located on the Thracian mainland, was refounded in 544 BC on the site of an earlier Greek settlement that had been destroyed by native tribes roughly half a century earlier. The new colonists were refugees from Teos, where a significant portion of the population had refused to submit to the rising Achaemenid superpower. Instead, they embarked on ships in search of greener pastures abroad. Thrace, however, was a contested region - its interior dominated by numerous fierce native tribes, and its coastline dotted with Greek colonies, most notably Thasos and its peraia to the west, and Maroneia to the east. The Teians, therefore, were forced to establish their new city in a less-than-ideal location. Even so, Abdera quickly prospered, thanks in large part to the export of the rich natural resources from its Thracian hinterland. The city soon assumed a prominent role in the silver bullion trade, sourcing metal from nearby Thracian mines and coining it for export to Oriental and Egyptian markets. Inscriptions indicate that the Abderitans maintained strong ties with Teos, adopting many of their mother city’s religious and political institutions. Their coinage, too, reflects this connection: the obverse features the Teian griffin, though now depicted facing to the left