Olbia

Thrace

Possibly a peninsula in antiquity, the colony was visited by Herodotus, who provides our best description of the city and its inhabitants from antiquity. It produced distinctive cast bronze money during the 5th century BCE in both the form of circular tokens with Gorgon heads and unique coins in the shape of dolphins. These are unusual considering the struck, round coins common in the Greek world. This form of money is said to have originated from sacrificial tokens used in the Temple of Apollo Delphinios.