v51_0201 - IONIA - FOCAIA Hecté d’électrum

IONIA - PHOKAIA

(6th - 4th century BC)

Phocaea was located seventy kilometers northwest of Smyrna on the coast, on the border of Aeolid, opposite the peninsula of Ionia. Phocaea was one of the first cities in Asia Minor to mint coins in the second half of the 7th century or the first half of the 6th century BC. The city, whose eponymous symbol was the seal, minted a large electrum mint. The Phocaic stallion shone throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. The city fell under Persian domination in 545 BC After the revolt of Ionia in 499 BC and its terrible repression five years later, Phocaea lost much of its importance. At the end of the 5th century BC it contracted with Mytilene, located in the island of Lesbos, a monetary alliance which was to last until the arrival of Alexander the Great in Asia Minor..