Euboia, Hisiaia.

Sear 2496, BCD Euboia 378-424, BMC 24 ff.

AR tetrobol, 12-13 mm, 3rd-2nd centuries B.C.

Obv: Wreathed head of nymph Histiaia with her hair rolled facing right.

Rev: ΙΣΤ--AIEΩN; nymph Histiaia seated right on stern of galley, wing on side of galley,control symbol(s), if any, below (off flan).

Histiaia, named after its patron nymph, commanded a strategic position overlooking the narrows leading to the North Euboian Gulf. In the Illiad, Homer describes the surrounding plain as “rich in vines.” In 480 B.C. the city was overrun by the Persians. After the Persian Wars it became a member of the Delian Confederacy. In 446 the Euboians revolted, seized an Athenian ship and murdered its crew. They were promptly reduced by Athens. Perikles exiled the population to Macedonia and replaced them with Athenians. The exiled population probably returned at the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404; thereafter they seem to have been largely under the control of Sparta until they joined the Second Athenian Confederacy in 376-375. The city appears to have become a member (for the first time) of the reconstituted league of Euboian cities in 340, but its allegiance during most of the 4th century seems to have vacillated between Athens and Macedonia. It was pro-Macedonian during the 3rd century, for which it was attacked in 208 and captured in 199 by a Roman-Pergamene force. The Roman garrison was removed in 194. To judge from the wide distribution of its coinage, Histiaia continued to prosper. Little is known of its later history, but finds at the site indicate it continued to be inhabited in Roman, Byzantine, and later times. (per NumisWiki)

The date of this extensive coinage is difficult to determine and is the subject of controversy. The bulk of it would appear to belong to the latter part of the third century B.C., and it may have commenced with the cessation of silver issues for the Euboian League circa 267 B.C. There are numerous imitations, of poor style and rough execution, which would seem to have been produced in Macedon just prior to the Roman victory over Perseus in 168 B.C. (per Sear)

Ref: Numismatik Lanz. Münzen von Euboia: Sammlung BCD. Auction 111 (November 25, 2002). Munich.