The history of Ancient Greek coinage can be divided into four periods, the
Archaic, the Classical, the Hellenistic and the Roman. The Archaic period
extends from the introduction of coinage to the Greek world during the 7th
century BC until the Persian Wars in about 480 BC. The Classical period then
began, and lasted until the conquests of Alexander the Great in about 330 BC,
which began the Hellenistic period, extending until the Roman absorption of
the Greek world in the 1st century BC. The Greek cities continued to produce
their own coins for several more centuries under Roman rule. The coins
produced during this period are called Roman provincial coins or Greek Imperial
Coins. Ancient Greek coins of all four periods span over a period of more than
ten centuries. Weight standards and denominations
The three most important standards of the Ancient Greek monetary system were
the Attic standard, based on the Athenian drachma of 4.3 grams of silver
and the Corinthian standard based on the stater of 8.6 grams of silver, that was
subdivided into three silver drachmas of 2.9 grams, and the Aeginetan stater or
didrachm of 12.2 grams, based on a drachma of 6.1 grams. The word drachm(a)
means "a handful", literally "a grasp". Drachmae were divided into six obols,
and six spits made a "handful". This suggests that before coinage came to be
used in Greece, spits in prehistoric times were used as measures in daily
transactions. In archaic/pre-numismatic times iron was valued for making durable
tools and weapons, and its casting in spit form may have actually represented
a form of transportable bullion, which eventually became bulky and inconvenient
after the adoption of precious metals. Because of this very aspect, Spartan
legislation famously forbade issuance of Spartan coin, and enforced the continued
use of iron spits so as to discourage avarice and the hoarding of wealth. In
addition to its original meaning, the word obol was retained as a Greek word
for coins of small value, still used as such in Modern Greek slang.
The obol was further subdivided into tetartemorioi which represented 1/4 of
an obol, or 1/24 of a drachm. This coin is mentioned by Aristotle as the
smallest silver coin. Various multiples of this denomination were also struck,
including the trihemitetartemorion valued at 3/8 of an obol.
Archaic period The first known coins were issued in
either Lydia or Ionia in Asia Minor at some time before 600 BC, either by the
non-Greek Lydians for their own use or perhaps because Greek mercenaries wanted
to be paid in precious metal at the conclusion of their time of service, and
wanted to have their payments marked in a way that would authenticate them.
These coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that was highly
prized and abundant in that area. By the middle of the 6th century BC, technology
had advanced, making the production of pure gold and silver coins simpler.
Accordingly, King Croesus introduced a bi-metallic standard that allowed for
coins of pure gold and pure silver to be struck and traded in the marketplace.
The Greek world was divided into more than two thousand self-governing
city-states, and more than half of them issued their own coins. Some coins
circulated widely beyond their polis, indicating that they were being used in
inter-city trade; the first example appears to have been the silver stater
or didrachm of Aegina that regularly turns up in hoards in Egypt and the
Levant, places which were deficient in silver supply. As such coins circulated
more widely, other cities began to mint coins to this "Aeginetan" weight
standard of, other cities included their own symbols on the coins. This is not
unlike present day Euro coins, which are recognisably from a particular country,
but usable all over the Euro zone. Athenian coins, however, were struck on
the "Attic" standard, with a drachm equaling 4.3 grams of silver. Over time,
Athens' plentiful supply of silver from the mines at Laurion and its increasing
dominance in trade made this the pre-eminent standard. These coins, known
as "owls" because of their central design feature, were also minted to an
extremely tight standard of purity and weight. This contributed to their
success as the premier trade coin of their era. Tetradrachms on this weight
standard continued to be a widely used coin through the classical period. By
the time of Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors, this large
denomination was being regularly used to make large payments, or was often saved
for hoarding. Classical period
The Classical period saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and
aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of fine silver and gold
coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary
hero on one side, and a symbol of the city on the other. Some coins employed a
visual pun: some coins from Rhodes featured a rose, since the Greek word
for rose is rhodon. The use of inscriptions on coins also began,
usually the name of the issuing city. The wealthy cities of Sicily produced
some especially fine coins. The large silver decadrachm coin from Syracuse is
regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient
world, perhaps ever. Syracusan issues were rather standard in their imprints,
one side bearing the head of the nymph Arethusa and the other usually a
victorious quadriga. The tyrants of Syracuse were fabulously rich, and part
of their public relations policy was to fund quadrigas for the Olympic chariot
race, a very expensive undertaking. As they were often able to finance more
than one quadriga at a time, they were frequent victors in this highly
prestigious event. Syracuse was one of the epicenters of numismatic art during
the classical period. Led by the engravers Kimon and Euainetos, Syracuse
produced some of the finest coin designs of antiquity.
Amongst the first centers to produce coins during the Greek colonization of
mainland Southern Italy were Paestum, Crotone, Sybaris, Caulonia, Metapontum,
and Taranto. These ancient cities started producing coins from 550BC to
510BC. Hellenistic period
The Hellenistic period was characterized by the spread of Greek culture across a
large part of the known world. Greek-speaking kingdoms were established
in Egypt and Syria, and for a time also in Iran and as far east as what is now
Afghanistan and northwestern India. Greek traders spread Greek coins across
this vast area, and the new kingdoms soon began to produce their own coins.
Because these kingdoms were much larger and wealthier than the Greek city states
of the classical period, their coins tended to be more mass-produced, as well
as larger, and more frequently in gold. They often lacked the aesthetic delicacy
of coins of the earlier period. Still, some of the Greco-Bactrian coins,
and those of their successors in India, the Indo-Greeks, are considered the
finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and
idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic
world: the largest gold coin was minted by Eucratides, the largest silver coin
by the Indo-Greek king Amyntas Nikator. The portraits "show a degree of
individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal
contemporaries further West". The most striking new feature of
Hellenistic coins was the use of portraits of living people, namely of
the kings themselves. This practice had begun in Sicily, but was disapproved of
by other Greeks as showing hubris. But the kings of Ptolemaic Egypt and
Seleucid Syria had no such scruples: having already awarded themselves with
"divine" status, they issued magnificent gold coins adorned with their own
portraits, with the symbols of their state on the reverse. The names of the
kings were frequently inscribed on the coin as well. This established a pattern
for coins which has persisted ever since: a portrait of the king, usually
in profile and striking a heroic pose, on the obverse, with his name beside
him, and a coat of arms or other symbol of state on the reverse.
Minting All Greek coins were handmade, rather
than machined as modern coins are. The design for the obverse was carved into a
block of bronze or possibly iron, called a die. The design of the reverse was
carved into a similar punch. A blank disk of gold, silver, or electrum was
cast in a mold and then, placed between these two and the punch struck hard with
a hammer, raising the design on both sides of the coin.
Coins as a symbol of the city-state Coins of Greek city-states depicted a
unique symbol or feature, an early form of emblem, also known as badge in
numismatics, that represented their city and promoted the prestige of their
state. Corinthian stater for example depicted pegasus the mythological winged
stallion, tamed by their hero Bellerophon. Coins of Ephesus depicted
the bee sacred to Artemis. Drachmas of Athens depicted the owl of Athena.
Drachmas of Aegina depicted a chelone. Coins of Selinunte depicted a "selinon".
Coins of Heraclea depicted Heracles. Coins of Gela depicted a man-headed
bull, the personification of the river Gela. Coins of Rhodes depicted a
"rhodon". Coins of Knossos depicted the labyrinth or the mythical creature
minotaur, a symbol of the Minoan Crete. Coins of Melos depicted a "mēlon". Coins
of Thebes depicted a Boeotian shield. Commemorative coins
The use of commemorative coins to celebrate a victory or an achievement of
the state was a Greek invention. Coins are valuable, durable and pass through
many hands. In an age without newspapers or other mass media, they were an ideal
way of disseminating a political message. The first such coin was a
commemorative decadrachm issued by Athens following the Greek victory in
the Persian Wars. On these coins that were struck around 480 BC, the owl of
Athens, the goddess Athena's sacred bird, was depicted facing the viewer
with wings outstretched, holding a spray of olive leaves, the olive tree being
Athena's sacred plant and also a symbol of peace and prosperity. The message was
that Athens was powerful and victorious, but also peace-loving. Another
commemorative coin, a silver dekadrachm known as " Demareteion", was minted at
Syracuse at approximately the same time to celebrate the defeat of the
Carthaginians. On the obverse it bears a portrait of Arethusa or queen Demarete.
Ancient Greek coins today Collections of Ancient Greek coins are
held by museums around the world, of which the collections of the British
Museum, the American Numismatic Society, and the Danish National Museum are
considered to be the finest. The American Numismatic Society collection
comprises some 100,000 ancient Greek coins from many regions and mints, from
Spain and North Africa to Afghanistan. To varying degrees, these coins are
available for study by academics and researchers.
There is also an active collector market for Greek coins. Several auction houses
in Europe and the United States specialize in ancient coins and there is
also a large on-line market for such coins.
Hoards of Greek coins are still being found in Europe, Middle East, and North
Africa, and some of the coins in these hoards find their way onto the market.
Due to the numbers in which they were produced, the durability of the metals,
and the ancient practice of burying large numbers of coins to save them,
coins are an ancient art within the reach of ordinary collectors.
See also Art of Ancient Greece
Indian coinage Philippeioi
Seleucid coinage Silver stater with a turtle, early coin
Citations Further reading
Grierson, Philip, Numismatics, Oxford, Oxford University Press ISBN
0-19-885098-0 Head, Barclay V., Historia Numorum; A
Manual of Greek Numismatics, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Hill, George Francis, Historical Greek Coins, London : Archibald Constable and
Co. Jenkins, H.K., Ancient Greek Coins,
Seaby, ISBN 1-85264-014-6 Konuk, Koray, From Kroisos to Karia;
Early Anatolian Coins from the Muharrem Kayhan Collection, ISBN 975-8070-61-4
Kraay, Colin M., Archaic and Classical Greek Coins, New York: Sanford J. Durst,
ISBN 0-915262-75-4. Melville Jones, John R, 'A Dictionary of
Ancient Greek Coins', London, Seaby 1986, reprinted Spink 2004.
Melville Jones, John R, Testimonia Numaria. Greek and Latin texts
concerning Ancient Greek Coinage, 2 vols, London, Spink, 0-907-05-40-0 and
978-1-902040-81-3. Ramage, Andrew and Craddock, Paul, King
Croesus' Gold; Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining, Trustees
of the British Museum, ISBN 0-7141-0888-X.
Rutter N. K, Burnett A. M, Crawford M. H, Johnston A. E.M, Jessop Price M,
Historia Numorum Italy, London: The British Museum Press, ISBN
0-7141-1801-X. Sayles, Wayne G, Ancient Coin
Collecting, Iola, Wisconsin : Krause Publications, 2003.
Sayles, Wayne G, Ancient Coin Collecting II: Numismatic Art of the Greek World",
Iola, Wisconsin : Krause Publications, 2007.
Sear, David, "Greek Coins and Their Values: Volume 1", London: Spink, Seaby,
ISBN 0 900652 462 Sear, David, "Greek Coins and Their
Values: Volume 2" London: Spink. Seltman, Charles, Greek Coins, London:
Methuen & Co, Ltd. Seltman, Charles, Masterpieces of Greek
Coinage, Bruno Cassirer - Oxford, 1949. Thompson M, Mørkholm O, Kraay C. M.: An
Inventory of Greek Coin Hoards,. New York, 1973 ISBN 978-0-89722-068-2
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum: American Numismatic Society: The
Collection of the American Numismatic Society, New York
Ward, John, Greek Coins and their Parent Cities, London : John Murray, 1902.
External links Greek Coin Collection
International Numismatic Commission The British Academy
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum in UK American Numismatic Society
Perseus Project at Tuft University Wildwinds: a database for Greek and
Roman coins - includes images CoinArchives.com: A large database of
coins previously sold at auction - includes images and prices
ACSearch.info: A large database of coins previously sold at auction - includes
images and prices, this site is free. p:coinproject.com/greek_list.php?type=1:
A large database of Greek coin types and the most complete list of cities which
struck Greek coins. National Numismatic Museum, Athens
Historia Numorum: A Manual of Greek Numismatics
Hellenic Numismatic Society History of the Greek coins And
presentation of the Greek modern coins Online numismatic exhibit: "This round
gold is but the image of the rounder globe". The charm of gold in ancient
coinage Digital Library Numis Online books and
articles on Greek coins Asia Minor Coins History and index/photo
gallery of ancient Greek and Roman coins from Asia Minor
VCoins: a database for Greek and Roman coins - includes images
Cornell Collection of Antiquities, Coins Collection. Gold, silver and bronze
coins from ancient Greece.