Ancient Greek Coins - The Enigma Of Oinoanda

Coinweek - Oinoanda, an ancient Greek city located in the upper valley of the Xanthus River, was built on the top of a high mountain in the ancient province of Lycia, now modern southwest Turkey. Little is known of the early history of the settlement in spite of several exploratory surveys which have been carried out in the region.



It was a substantial city in antiquity, but surprisingly, it issued its own silver coins at only one moment in its long history. Until the early 2000s, the coinage was known from only a single specimen acquired by the British Museum in 1897. The discovery of a small group has allowed the types to be studied in much more detail and has added to our admittedly sparse understanding of the coins of the period.

Three distinct issues have been identified, marked by a sequence of letters and symbols. They are dated to the first three years of Attalid rule of the region which followed the Peace of Apameia in 188 BC after the Roman defeat of Antiochos III in 190 BC. The terms of the peace dictated that much of the Seleukid territory in Anatolia passed to the control of Pergamon and Rhodes.

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