Obolos 5

CAPPADOCIA, Uncertain. Eusebeia-Mazaka. Late 2nd to 1st Century BC. Diobol (Silver, 12 mm, 1.25 g, 6 h). Pyramid-shaped object with pellets at each corner. Rev. Club within wreath. Unique and unpublished. Very fine.

This coin is a mystery: The obverse clearly resembles bronzes from Caesarea-Eusebia under Trajan (cf. Sydenham 236, 238 and 240 ff), while the reverse is reminiscent of late Hellenistic issues from Tarsos. What makes the coin even more puzzling is the fact that it was struck in silver at the weight of a diobol and lacks any ethnic or symbols. We are therefore left with little to work on but have tentatively attributed it to Cappadocia based upon the singularity of the obverse type as opposed to the more common club reverse. As a diobol, it ought to be no later than the early first century BC: could it be an early emission of Eusebeia-Mazaka during a short period of some degree of autonomy? Or is it an issue connected to local festivities of Herakles, explaining the reverse type and the lack of an ethnic? For the moment, these remain suggestions and one can only hope that another specimen with additional information will show up in the future, offering us a more precise idea as to what this mysterious coin is.