400-350 BCE 12.17mm 1.98g
Obverse: Head of nymph right
Reverse: ME-ΛI, bunch of grapes hanging from vine
Rogers 393; Blomley unlisted, but obverse die 28 and reverse 2.4
Meliboia was an ancient city in Thessaly that was mentioned in Homer’s Catalog of Ships. It was also famous for its purple die, which was extracted from a particular type of shellfish and was a key part of many royal clothes from the Greeks to the Romans and beyond.
During Xerxes invasion, many people and parts of ships washed up at Meliboia. Later, although they were allied with Perhai, the inhabitants were butchered and sold into slavery by Alexander of Pherai.
Philip II later took control of the city and it remained under Macedonian rule until the beginning of the 2nd century BCE.