ATHENES. 1 Action de F200. green, buff. #100000. No 22078. Repaired tear at the top. Folds, a little edge-damage. Text in Greek on the front and French on the back. Company name in English: "the Lavrion Metallurgical Co.". Lavrion lies on the coast, east of Athens. After the battle of Marathon, Themistocles persuaded the Athenians to devote the anticipated revenue derived from a major silver vein strike in the mines of Lavrion circa 483 BC to expanding the Athenian fleet to 200 triremes, and thus laid the foundation of the Athenian naval power. Towards the end of the 5th century, the output fell, but the mines continued to be worked ; Strabo records that in his time the tailings were being worked over, and Pausanias speaks of the mines as a thing of the past. The ancient workings, consisting of shafts and galleries for excavating the ore, and washing tables for concentrating the ore, may still be seen at many locations. There were well engineered tanks and reservoirs to collect rainwater for washing the ore since abundant supplies from streams or rivers was impossible at the site. The mines were reworked in the 19th and early 20th century by French and Greek companies, but mainly for lead, manganese and cadmium. Generally decorative share, with a border partly in art nouveau/Jugendstil, and a vignette of the mines and the port and bay of Lavrion. By far the earliest Greek share we have ever seen (the second oldest one dating from 1881) and extremely rare.