Circa 375-350 BCE
Ae 13mm 1.80g
Obv: Laureate head of Apollo left.
Rev: AIPAIΩN. Owl standing right, head facing; astragalos to right.
Amandry, Une monnaie de la cité Ionienne d’Airai, 11-12; Imhoof-Blumer, Kleinasiatische Münze, Supplement p. 512, 1.
Ex Plankenhorn Collection
Ex Hauck & Aufhäuser 2000
Airai existed for only a short time. Therefore, its coins are extremely rare. The first records of Airai come from tribute lists to Athens. It was also briefly mentioned in Thukydides when the Athenian general Diomedon attempted to take it with ten ships, but failed. In 370 BCE, it was occupied by its neighbor Teos and by the time of Strabo it was merely a suburb of that city.
From the owl, we can see the connection to Athens. The astralagos on the coin indicates divinity or fortune-telling. Could there have been some form of oracle on the site?