MACEDON. Ennea Odoi (?). Circa 500-480 BC. Stater (Silver, 20 mm, 8.10 g). Cow standing left, head turned right towards calf suckling right below; above, pellet. Rev. Quadripartite incuse square. Asyut -. Rosen 159 (same obverse die, as 'Thraco-Macedonia, uncertain'). SNG ANS 68 var. (with EN above cow, as 'Aineia'). Svoronos, HPM, pl. XVIII, 21-4 var. (with EN above cow). Very rare and nicely toned. Large test cut on the obverse, otherwise, very fine.



The attribution of this beautiful issue to a specific mint is complicated by the widespread popularity of its obverse type, which was used by numerous cities from Illyria to the Levant. However, hoard finds and stylistic comparisons suggest a Thraco-Macedonian origin for the series - possibly from the city of Ennea Odoi - as some specimens bear the ethnic EN above the cow. The archaic settlement of Ennea Odoi, whose name literally means 'nine roads', was located at a strategically important crossroads near the mouth of the Strymon River. According to Thucydides, it was captured in 437 BC by the Athenian general Hagnon, who founded the city of Amphipolis at the site in order to gain access to key Thraco-Macedonian natural resources such as gold, silver, and timber.