TYPE Ancient Greece, Eion (Macedon), ca. 480 BC, silver diobol, 1.05g DESCRIPTION . Obv: Goose standing r. on a base, looking back, globule (with concentric circle) at botton left; lizard (seen from above) crawling above it to left Rev: Quadripartite incuse square REFERENCE: Del 1083, P 1685, Cop 174 GRADING: VF, deeply toned, some encrustation, well centered, rare ORDER INFO: G2938, $125 A unique and interesting obverse design with two animals generally rarely seen on coins. The altogether rare coinage of Eion all belongs to this era and features geese in some form. A north Aegean port at the mouth of the river Strymon (Struma), Eion gave importance to the more famous upstream neighbor Amphipolis. It was in the defense of these towns during the Peloponnesian wars that Thucydides' career as an Athenian general came to an end (and began that of a more famous historian). This nicely styled issue comes probably right after the time when the town was occupied by the Persians, used as a springboard for invading Athens. However, Delepierre (citing Imhoof-Blumer) conjectures these types emanate from the Corinthian settlement of Therma near Thessalonika.