500–400 BC Greek Bronze Olbia Dolphin Money

Money That Flipper Would Have Loved

By the time the 4th and 5th centuries BC rolled around, the ancient Greeks were well on their way to introducing coins as units of currency. These pieces were round, struck in precious metal and were easily transported and exchanged wherever the Greeks roamed. But there was one outpost that bucked this trend. It was in Olbia, a Greek colony located near the Northwest coast of the Black Sea in what is now Bulgaria and Ukraine. There the Greek people struck their money not in round discs, but in the shape of a dolphin like this cast bronze coin.

The Exalted Status Of Dolphins In The Greek World

Yes, dolphins. The same marine animals that are easy to train and appear almost daily frolicking and performing incredible feats in aquarium and water shows across the world. But why a dolphin on coins? First of all, the Greeks considered dolphins to be sacred animals. In one story, it was a dolphin who found Amphitrite, a mermaid that Poseidon was in love with, and helped bring her back to the Sea King’s golden palace to be his Queen. As a reward, Poseidon placed the dolphin in the constellation Delphinus. In addition to their sacred status, dolphins often came to the aid of sailors in distress. What’s more, the Black Sea was literally teeming with bottlenose dolphins.

Detailed Dolphin-Shaped Money

This remarkable bronze piece is a beautifully shaped sculpture of a dolphin. Its three-dimensional shape features details on both the obverse and reverse of its curved body shape with a notched dorsal fin, indentations for eyes, and an elongated bottlenose snout. The body is also accented with a curved line to represent the dolphin’s pectoral flippers. Like most Olbian dolphin money pieces of this era, the tail is incomplete. This is due to the bronze casting process. The pieces were cast in a tree format and broken off at the tail. Historians believe that the dolphins were trimmed off quickly by the artisans as they quickly moved on to the next casting, without regard for completeness of the shape.

This ungraded bronze Dolphin issue of Olbia was cast sometime during the 5th-and 4th Centuries BC. It comes packaged in a clear plastic protective sleeve and will be accompanied by an informative storycard. Add this exceptional example of Dolphin Money cast more than 2,500 years ago to your ancient coin collection today!