a shield 🛡️ and a vase 🏺

Continuing on from the last couple of posts, here’s another favourite coin of mine:

Boeotia, Thebes AR Stater. Circa 395-338 BC. Boiotian shield / Amphora, ivy leaf hanging from left handle; above, club right; TI-MI across field; all within incuse concave circle. Hepworth 88, BCD Boeotia 477. 11.84g

Boeotian Thebes was one of the most influential cities of Classical Greece, significant both mythologically (Kadmos, Oedipus, Dionysos, etc.) and historically (enemy of Athens, challenging Spartan dominance, eventually destroyed by Alexander III). Its coinage? Extensive and varied, but with the distinctive shield that grew to represent the region maintained throughout. Fun fact: because it was difficult to distinguish tiny fractional silver currency, the 1/2 obol denomination ingeniously featured half a shield, and the 3/2 obol three halves of a shield around each other.

This stater, chunky at 11.84g, is of the most common design: Boeotian shield on the obverse, amphora on the reverse (although I’ve heard it noted this is actually a Krater instead). A few neat touches, like a club above the amphora and an ivy leaf hanging from the left handle set it apart from the myriad of varieties, and the legend TI-MI is likely an abbreviation of the name of the magistrate in charge (so TIMI[….]). I had to get one of these because they’re so iconic (as one of the major classical coin types), and I’m a fan of the simplicity of the composition; too often, in my opinion, engravers try to cram as much detail into a small flan as possible (you need only look at Trajan’s lengthy legends) and this refined elegance is much more appealing aesthetically…