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.
