Phocaea on the western coast of Asia Minor (Anatolia) has been an ideal harbor because of a large archipelago just off the circular bay on which the city was located. Hence it used to be, and still is, a secure refuge for ships in stormy weather. This ideal situation was decisive for the development of the city and predestinated its inhabitants for shipping and trade.
Coins of Phocaea were widely used in the Greek world, and a lot of other trading posts used the Phocaean weight standard for their coins, as proves this little 1/48 stater from an unknown mint in Ionia.