Collecting Focus. A Coin of Pallantion

There is a great breadth to Greek coins, which in date span from the very origins of coinage in Lydia in the late 7th century BC through to the end of the Hellenistic period with the conquest of Ptolemaic Egypt by Rome in 30 BC, and geographically from the westernmost outposts of the Greek colonies to the edges of the Indus River during the conquest of Alexander III of Macedon. It is common therefore to focus collecting on a theme within this span, such as the coins of a specific mint, the coins of the Diadochi, mythological coins and so on. One interesting area is to collect coins from one of the Greek leagues, which were formed for mutual advantage or defense. Examples of these are the Delian league formed to defend the Greek cities against the Persian empire, the Italiote league which sought to fend off the predatory advances of Dionysius I in Southern Italy, or the Thessalian league which was founded in the late 6th century BC to deal with internal threats.

This coin from Pallantion was issued as part of the second Achaian league which grew from its founding in 281 BC to cover most of the Peloponnese and which lasted until it became wholly subservient to Rome following the Fourth Macedonian War in 148 BC. Coins of this league are collectable in part because the 23 identified mints which participated shared a common type, minting silver triobols with the head of Zeus Hamarios on the obverse and the Greek league monogram AX within a laurel wreath on the reverse. Each mint then added an ethnic which identified it (the bronze coins had the name of the city included). Note that the exact meaning of Hamarios is uncertain, but probably "who unites".

This coin was minted in the early 1st century BC and has the identifier of ΠΑΛ plus a trident. Other identifiers or attributes on coins of the Achaian league include Elis with an eagle or thunderbolt, Patrai with a dolphin or trident, and Sikyon with a dove. For a full list and attribution please reference Achaian League Coinage of the 3rd through 1st Centuries by S. M. Benner.

Very little is known about Pallantion other than that it was located south-west of Tegea. Pausianus claims it was founded by Pallas, son of Lykaon (Paus. 8.3.1) and that it had temple with two stone images, one of Pallas, the other of Evander, and a sanctuary of the Maid, the daughter of Demeter. He also notes that the hill above the city was of old used as a citadel and that on the crest of the hill there still remained a sanctuary of certain gods.