Obol from Lamia (Thessaly)

The city of Lamia in the central Greek region of Thessaly depicted a young Dionysus on the obverse of its coins as early as the 4th century BC; at that time the god of wine was worshipped in the form of an older bearded man in other parts of Greece. The reverse of this small obol shows, as is thematically appropriate, a large wine vessel. The wine can be ladled out using the jug depicted in the right field. The ivy leaf givesreference to the Dionysian contents. The inhabitants of the city of Lamia (ΛAMIEΩN = (coin) of the Lamians) here named not only expressed their veneration of the god Dionysus on their coinage but also built him a temple on the city’s acropolis.

Obverse: Head of Dionysos with ivy wreath to left. Reverse: ΛAMIEΩN (Lamieon). Volute crater, ivy leaf above.