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GreekCoinageAncientHistoryEncyclopedia

GreekCoinage

byMarkCartwright
publishedon15July2016

ThecoinageofancientGreecehasgivenussomeofthemostrecognisableimagesfromantiquity
astheywerestampedwithdesignstoproudlydeclaretheidentityofthecitywhichmintedthem
andguaranteetheirvalue.Oneofthegreatarchaeologicalsurvivors,coinsareaninvaluablesource
ofinformationonculturalpractices,importantindividuals,andancientinternationalrelations.

EVOLUTION&FUNCTIONOFCOINAGE
Tradeintheancientworldwaslargelyconductedthroughtheexchangeofonetypeofgoodsfor
anotherinabartersystemthatworkedwellformillennia.Eventually,somegoodscametobe
exchangedforlargemetalbars,suchasthebronzeorcoppertalent,whichbothpartiesagreedtoa
valueon.Thenextstepwastousemetalrodsorspits(anobelosfromwhichtheobolcoinderives
itsname)whichwere1.5metersinlengthandsixofwhichcouldbegraspedinthehand.TheGreek
wordforgraspisdrattomaiandthisistheoriginofthedrachmacoin.Fromthesebarsandrods
sprangtheideaforamoreportableanduniversalmaterialwhichcouldbeexchangedforanygoods
orservice:coinage.
LydiawascreditedbytheGreekswithinventingcoinsintheearly6thcenturyBCEwhichwere
stampedbythestatetoguaranteevalueandberecognisableasgenuine.Coinswereusuallyslightly
lighterthanthesamevalueweightinthepuremetalsothatthecostofmintingthemwascoveredor
evenasmallprofitattained.Inlatercenturiessomestateswouldabusethismarginandproduce
coinswithlowerandlowerpreciousmetalcontentinanattempttocreatevaluewheretherereally
wasnone.Afterpublicridicule,Athenswasfamouslyforcedtowithdrawabatchofplatedcoinage
thathadbeenmintedfollowingafinancialcrisisc.406BCE.Then,asnow,coinagecouldonly
functionifpeoplehadtrustinitspresentandfuturevalue.

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GREEKCOINSOFPARTICULARCITY-STATESCARRIED
SPECIFICDESIGNSWHICHWEREUSEDFORCENTURIES,
BECOMINGINSTANTLYRECOGNISABLESYMBOLSOFTHAT
CITY.
ThefirstGreekcoinsappearedinAeginac.600BCE(orevenearlier)whichweresilveranduseda
turtleasasymbolofthecitysprosperitybasedonmaritimetrade.AthensandCorinthsoon
followedAeginaslead.ThebirthofcoinageinwiderGreece,though,wasnotreallyaninventionof
conveniencebutanecessity,drivenbytheneedtopaymercenarysoldiers.Thesewarriorsrequired
aconvenientwaytocarrytheirwagesandthestateneededamethodofpaymenttheycould
equallyapplytoeveryone.Formaritimetradeespecially,bartercontinuedtobethemostcommon
formofexchangeastheproblemwithcoinageintheancientworldwasthatthevalueofcoins
betweencity-stateswasoftendifferent.Still,forthecitizensofaparticularcityanditssurrounding
territoriescoinagebecameaveryusefulwaytobuyandsellgoods,anditwasconvenientforthe
statetousecoinstopayforsmallpublicservicessuchasparticipatinginlawcourts.Soconvenient
wasthisnewportablewealththatpoorerGreekswouldcarrytheircoinsintheirmouthswhenthey
wenttomarket,andricherGreeksnowhadahandymeansofstoring(andhiding)theirwealth.

AthenianSilverTetradrachm

Somelargerstateswereabletoimposetheircurrencyonothercity-statesandhaveitacceptedasa
meansofexchange.TheAtheniansilvercoinageofthe5thcenturyBCEisanexample,andperhaps
itwasthefirstcaseofasinglecurrencybeingusedbydifferentstates,themembersoftheDelian
League.ExamplesoftheAtheniansilverowltetradrachmshavebeenfoundasfarafieldasEgypt,
Palestine,Arabia,andBactria.TheArcadianLeaguewasanotherorganisationwithacommon
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coinage.Similarly,AlexandertheGreatwouldusehiscoinsacrosstheMacedonianempirewith
manystatesstillmintingthemtwocenturiesafterhisdeath.Othercontemporarystateswouldcopy
theGreekapproachtocoinsandproducetheirownsimilartypes,suchastheEtruscansand
Carthaginians.

MINTINGCOINS
Greekcoinsweremadeusingmostlysilverbutalsogold,electrum(anaturallyoccurringalloyof
silverandgold),copperalloy,andbronze.Themetalsweremeltedinaforgehearthandthen,to
standardisethesizeandweightofeachblankcoin(flans),themoltenmetalwaspouredintomoulds
orpre-preparedhemisphericalvessels.Later,anothermethodwastocutslicesfrommetalcylinders
madethecorrectdiameter.

GreekSilverCoins

Meanwhile,anengravercarvedthedesign(inrelieforincised)ontometaldiesofhardenedbronze
oriron,oneforeachsideofthecoin(earlycoinshadonlyonesidestamped).Insomemintsduring
theClassicalperiodsuchasinsouthernItalyandSicily,thecoinengraversevensignedtheirwork.
Onedie(usuallytheobverseside)wassetinananvilandtheblankmetaldiskwasplacedontop,
warmedtomakeitslightlysoft.Theminterthenheldinhishandtheotherdieandhammerediton
topoftheblankdisk.Thestrikewouldthenleaveanimpressiononbothsidesofthecoin.
Sometimesoldcoinswererestampedwithnewdesigns.
Differentweightsofcoinswereusedtocreatedenominationsrangingfromtheobol(sixofwhich
equalledonedrachma)tothedoubleoctadrachm.Whatcouldbepurchasedwithcoinschanged
overtime,but,asanexample,entrancetothetheatrefestivalsatAthensinitiallycosttwoobolsin
theearly5thcenturyBCE,whichwasadayslabour.Mostcoins,though,weremintedinsilverandso
wereofrelativelyhighvalue,perhapsequaltooneweeksworkformostcitizens.Onlyinthe
HellenisticPerioddidsmallerdenominationsbecomemorewidespread.

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AncientGreekSilvercoins

Therewereattemptstomanufacturecounterfeitcoinsusingalow-valuecoresuchasleadorbronze
coveredinathinlayerofthecorrectmetal.Asdesignsbecamemorecomplexsotheybecamemore
difficulttocopybutearlycoinsoftenhavepunchholessuggestingtheywererepeatedlytestedto
determinetheirtruecomposition.

DESIGNS
Greekcoinsofparticularpoleisorcity-statesoftencarriedspecificdesignswhichwereusedfor
centuries,becominginstantlyrecognisablesymbolsofthatcity.GodsandfiguresfromGreek
mythologywereespeciallypopular,butallmannerofsubjectswerechosentorepresentparticular
cities.Strangely,thereversesideofearlycoinsusuallyhadonlyasimplegeometricshapestamped
intothem,especiallyaquarteredsquare.Later,mintersandadministratorssawthatthereverseside
wasanopportunitytodoublethevisualmessage.Designssometimeshadarelationtothecoins
valuetoo,aswhenAthensaddedanextraolivebranchtodistinguishthesimilarhemidrachmand
drachma.

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AncientGreekCoins

PerhapsthemostfamousdesignofallistheowlofAthenawhichappearedonthesilver
tetradrachmcoinsofAthens.Athenawasthepatronofthecityandsheappearedonthereverse
side.CorinthusedPegasus,thewingedhorseoftheCorinthianheroBellerophonwhofoundhimat
thefountainofPireneoutsidethecity.CoinsofKnossosdepictedthelabyrinthfromthelegendof
TheseusandtheMinotaur.ThebeshadthedistinctiveBoiotianshield.Syracuseusedtheimage
ofArethousawithswimmingdolphinstosymbolisethatcitysstrengththroughmaritimetrade.As
wehaveseen,Aeginadidthesamebutusedaseaturtle,tobereplacedbyatortoiseonlatercoins.
PoseidonappearedonthecoinsofPoseidonia,andSilenusonthosefromNaxos.
Localplantsandflowerswereapopularchoiceofsymbol,too,forexample,theceleryleaffor
Selinus,roseforRhodes,andearofwheatforMetapontum.Charioteersseemtohaveappealedto
manycity-statesandappearoncoinsfromSicilytoMacedon.Thelyreisanothercommon
emblem,thecoinsofDelosbeingjustoneexample.Somecoinshadshortinscriptions,most
commonlyasinglelettersuchasanAtheforAthensorKoppaforCorinth.Bytheendofthe
Classicalperiod,rulerswereusingcoinsasameansofpropagandatoshowtheirownimage
throughouttheirempireandassociatethemselveswithgodsandheroessuchasHercules.

MacedonianGoldStater

AVALUABLEHISTORICALRECORD
TheimpreciseprocessofmanufacturingcoinsintheGreekworldhasbeenavaluableassetto
archaeologists.Byexaminingtheprecisemetalpurityofcertaincoinsandthealignmentsofdesigns
andtheirimperfectionstheyareabletomatchdifferentexamplesofthesamecoinbatchtospecific
mintsandperiods,helpingtodateotherobjectsandplacesinwhichthecoinshavebeenexcavated.
Onoccasion,themerepresenceofcoinsincertainplaceshashelpedestablishancienttrade
relations,forexample.Finally,theimagesoncoinsareavaluablesourceoficonographyrelatedto
theGreekreligionandarecordofagricultureandarchitecture.Theyare,too,avisualreferencefor
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allkindsofnowlostobjectsfromvictorytripodstoshipsprows,andsometimes,aswithmany
Bactriankings,theyareouronlysourceofanindividualsportrait.

ABOUTTHEAUTHOR
MARKCARTWRIGHT
MarkholdsanM.A.inGreekphilosophyandhisspecialinterestsincludethe
Minoans,theancientAmericas,andworldmythology.Helovesvisitingand
readingabouthistoricsitesandtransformingthatexperienceintofreearticles
accessibletoall.

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LEGALNOTICE
WrittenbyMarkCartwright,publishedon15July2016underthefollowinglicense:CreativeCommons:
Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike .Thislicenseletsothersremix,tweak,andbuilduponthiscontentnoncommercially,aslongastheycredittheauthorandlicensetheirnewcreationsundertheidenticalterms.

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