Coin of Ios

This coin is a silver didrachm, minted on Ios. The coin’s obverse features the oldest and most beautiful coin portrait of Homer, the composer of the Iliad and the Odyssey. On the right, there is the inscription ΟΜΗΡ[ΟΥ] (of Homer).

On the reverse a laurel wreath is depicted, encircling the ethnic abbreviation of the inhabitants of the island of Ios in the centre of the coin. This is an extremely rare coin, as only three others of this mintage are known.