Macedon, Tyntenoi, Octodrachm ca. 480-470 BC, NGC graded, extremely rare

A coin of the highest rarity, attributed to the Illyrian tribe of the Tyntenoi (or Tynteni), unknown outside of its coinage bearing the legend "TΥNTENON". This coinage is extremely rare overall, so much so that the Octodrachm is not mentioned in standard reference books such as the HGC, which only mentions the staters attributed to them (HGC 3.1, p. 133).It seems to have been struck only for a short period, between the end of the 6th century BC and the first quarter of the 5th century BC.

This coinage is almost identical to that of the tribe/city of Ichnai/Ichnae, located in the ancient region of Macedonia, near present-day Koufalia (in present-day Greece), on which we find the same representation of the divinity accompanied by two bulls on the obverse and a spoked wheel within an incuse square on the reverse. The only difference is the ethnic origin mentioned in Greek on the obverse.

There were other tribes/cities that struck coins similar to this one, such as the tribal kingdom of the Edonians (or Edoni, Edonides), whose cities were located to the east of the Strymon, not far from Mount Pangaion, in the ancient region of Edonis, or the tribe of the Orrescii (or Orreskians, Orreskioi), neighbours of the Edonians, whose location and coinage are only vaguely known. All these tribes issued superb and very heavy silver Octodrachms, all of which are extremely rare as there seem to be very few of them.

Finally, we do not know the exact location of the city of the Tynteni, which would have been called "Tynte", and it is not certain whether the tribe grouped together in a city, or whether it existed only through small villages. They are thought to have settled north of Lake Ohrid in what is now northern Macedonia, but we have no information today about their origins.