Abdera, on the southern coast of Thrace, not far from the mouth of the river Nestus, was originally a Clazomenian colony founded in the seventh century B.C. This first venture did not prove a success, but in 544 B.C. the site was reoccupied by the larger portion of the population of Teos, who preferred to leave their native land rather than submit to the Persian conqueror (Herod. i. 168). Abdera rose to be a place of considerable importance and wealth. The griffin as a coin-type at Abdera is clearly copied from that on the coins of the mother-city Teos. It may be borrowed from the cultus of the Hyperborean Apollo. The magistrates whose names occur on the coins of this town were probably members of the governing body, commissioned to superintend the coinage of the state, and not mere monetary magistrates.