A rare, eight-drachma silver coin, dating back to the 5th century BC, will soon return to Greece after Swiss authorities held that it was the result of an illegal excavation. The Swiss ruling indicates that the illegal excavation appears to have taken place in an area in Serres.
The coin has been dated back to 480 BC and was minted by the Thracian kingdom of Visaltia, in modern Serres. The coin is believed to have been minted during the reign of a tyrant ruler named Mossis. A soldier by horse and carrying a spear is depicted on one side, while the other has the tyrant ruler’s emblem.
The efforts to return the coin to Greece began in September 2009, after an anonymous complaint was filed in Thessaloniki. The coin will be returned to Athens within the day by a proxy of Greek Ministry of Culture, lawyer Ilias Bisias.
