English: “Charon’s Obol”. 5th-1st century BC. AV 12mm (0.23 g). Bee / Incuse of obverse.
A variety of thin, uniface disks of this nature are known that have a single obverse type that mimics a coin type (see, e.g., CNG 55, lot 359, mimicking the reverse type of New Style Tetradrachms of Athens; and CNG 55, lot 1866, mimicking the reverse type of Sikyon staters). The present piece was obviously influenced by the obverse of Ephesos (or Arados) drachms. All of these pseudo-coins have no sign of attachment, are too thin for normal use, and are often found in burial sites. In ancient times, it was customary to place coins with the dead during burial so that the deceased could pay the boatman Charon to ferry them across the river Styx. These uniface tokens probably also served this same purpose.