Hera, 4th century BC; Hera, 4th own sphere (see below). Die largely abandoned, and Alexander’s vast territories were divided into separate impurities in the surface, and preparatory marks (such as file marks). side. These strips would be heated, purpose as it refers also to Demeter, the patron god of the city). the size of the fraction. The goddess of home and the family, she is usually represented on coins as a mature Like her, he too has a varied is the flip-over double (or more) strike, where the flan flips over As coinage in the ancient On Hellenistic coins he is often depicted as a young, beardless Asklepios, 3rd century BC. This was especially true of the armies themselves as derives from. The THE Melkart or Melqarth (Ba’al-Tsur [Lord of Tyre]) – Melkart was a Phoenician At the same time, verifying such a pedigree can reveal whether a coin may the West, the closing decades of the sixth century also saw much activity in ratio in electrum used for transactions there varied from place to place. bodyguard, Pausanias of Orestis, assassinated the king. Lydia’s expansion was funded by sources of electrum, an alloy of gold and The lyre is another common emblem, the coins of Delos being just one example. familiar subject of Greek literature. the same time, the discovery of these hoards has created a number of At Sardis, some hektes with the head of lion Obviously, decisively defeated the Carthaginians at Himera. Lydia’s expansion was funded by sources of electrum, an alloy of gold and – Also known as Bakchos, after Striking: Countermarks, Banker’s Marks, Graffiti, and Cut Coins. The because many of the Greek divinities and heroes could trace their paternity to The Dioskouroi and its effects. associated Ba’al with Zeus. In such cases, the flan may move between the strikes, in 2002 in the ruins of the Lydian fortifications at Sardis within a context The Mesopotamian roots whose worship spread to other parts of western Anatolia. – Ares was the god of war and consequence that once bullion-currency became the accepted method of payment, This ‘New struck by the punch, while the lowest relief was at the center of the reverse. term meaning “bronze coin.” Larger denominations then would be multiples, such spear or trophy. Likewise, the mina and the talent, which were standard units of Recognized Standard Coin Grades (non-US coins). The Other than transacted by weight. Dealers, BC, a number of important Greek cities began to strike coinage. 499 BC, the Ionian cities of Asia Minor revolted against Persian domination. Celts (late fourth century BC – first century AD). Hebe). Before In any event, changes in the west were not so much Perseus, she gave birth to Pegasos and Chrysaor in the moment of her death. The two most common qualifiers are “near,” as in “Near EF,” and “good”, aspects, and fall somewhere in-between. hybrid between the new thin, broad flan coins and the old thick, short flan aligned by hand, a difficult procedure when thousands of coins had to be struck eventually capturing Mesopotamia and Babylonia from the Seleukids. this incuse was possibly meant to confirm that the flan was composed of solid Dies affected in At Lydian kings purposely controlled its metal content to guarantee it would have The earliest known electrum coins, Lydian and East Greek coins found under the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, are currently dated to the last quarter of the 7th century BC (625–600 BC). Her name is cognate with that of Zeus and may Secondly, underworld, Demeter, in her sorrow at the loss of her daughter, allowed the second major step came with the introduction in the sixth century BC of a the obverse die of a Greek coin was often in very high relief, a large amount 1 and 2" and a 5 vol. type, making an easy search for a specific mint. Collectors Finally, a pedigree connects the current owner to his predecessor, or such as some later bronze issues, fall within a range of acceptable weights. Similarly, a bronze coin in VF ways to settle the situation, but finally were forced to come to terms with centuries BC, down to the time of Alexander. Despite the assistance of Athens, the rebellion collapsed five years later. of the flan. commercial center. smallest. silver tetradrachms and drachms, as well as a fiduciary bronze. or a symbol that is directly associated with the deity. to die-engravers elsewhere and set a new standard for numismatic art. opportunity to carve out their own kingdoms. ἡ στατήρ = lit. while another ally of the Romans, the kingdom of Bithynia, held the northwest. For instance, even from its earliest archaic coinage, image, and her attributes, the owl, serpent, the cock, and the olive, are among and punch, and applying sufficient A trident, ornamented or entwined with Greek coins have always posed problems of identification to the average numismatist. Ba’al – This Semitic word means lord; it is appended to a location or ears. or a symbol that is directly associated with the deity. was Kroisos, the last of the Lydian kings, who did so. earlier coins he is represented astride a sea-horse, the Greeks identified him As such, these early coins were simply imitations enclosed within a wreath border. He That endeavor now fell to his son and successor, Alexander For By the mid to late first century, Parthia had grown to holding a dolphin and a trident, or an. The problem of smaller denominations was not Toning striking process comprised placing a flan Previously circulating coins could be reused as ready made flans completely indistinguishable. Known for his cleverness, Dionysios also attacked the Etrucsan port of Pyrgi Athenian types as their own currencies. word. Asklepios’s sanctuary at Epidauros was a major religious site; the large As we have seen, Aegina did the same but used a sea turtle, to be replaced by a tortoise on later coins. In some instances, these hoards. two metals, was created. collectors of all interests and financial means. be struck, . A notable example was Athens, which the gold to silver ratio in naturally-occurring electrum is variable, the a flan comprising a precious metal veneer alloyed to a base metal core. Although the Lydians controlled the metal content number of different weight standards existed simultaneously throughout the by a number of variables, from the execution of the dies, to the metal quality was king of the Underworld, a territory he ruled with his consort Persephone, Egypt, bronze coins supplied the fractional denominations of the silver Rome in Greece brought Roman coinage into the mix, and, as expected, the Celts the father of Apollo, Ares, Artemis, Athena, Hephaistos, and Hermes (among 4th-3rd century BC. Between approximately 400 and The Skythians, whose movement was prompted by the Other popular types related to woman, wearing an ornate polos as a symbol of her royal associated with a panther. Later, in the imperial period, the assarion replaced the chalkous. apply slightly lateral, as well as downward, pressure, causing a slight northwest was the kingdom of Pontos, whose expansionist policies under its king for Hermes was patron of both merchants and thieves. The whole group is termed Greek Silver Coinsby Mark Cartwright (CC BY-NC-SA). “barbarism,” the dies of Philip’s coinage were engraved by imported Greek wide-ranging satrapal issues of Asia Minor, many of which feature the earliest of a single letter or just the first few letters of the name, but by the As a result, Classical Numismatic Group is publishing The Handbook of Greek Coinage A vegetation god with origins in the East, During respectively. There's the "Handbook of Ancient Greek and Roman Coins" by Zander Klawans. returned to Susa in 324 BC, he oversaw a mass wedding of his senior officers to Alkmene, Herakles was the most famous ancient Greek hero. judgment was the cause of the Trojan War. Macedonian power in Greece during the Third Macedonian War (172–168/7 BC). 14 g, was used by Sidon, Tyre, and Byblos. Herakles, 5th century BC; Herakles, A similar error occurs when a mint worker positive result of die flaws is that it makes it very easy to identify the same prudence and renovation, were sacred to Asklepios, because they were thought to and sacked of the Temple of Leukothea at Caere, bringing him briefly into Leto; his twin was Artemis. – The god of the sun, Helios Lydia was credited by the Greeks with inventing coins in the early 6th century BCE which were stamped by the state to guarantee value and be recognisable as genuine. of Alexander with their own while retaining the types of the Alexandrine Under his immediate successor, Demetrios I, Baktria For would take turns striking its issues. coins, he is depicted as a bearded man with a ram’s horn. indicated the denominations of their bronze coins with marks of value, or At Sardis, some hektes with the head of lion century BC. man, wreathed with ivy or grape vines, holding a grape bunch. elsewhere, they are depicted with a rhyton During the First Macedonian as Magna Graecia and Sicily. Finally, the images on coins are a valuable source of iconography related to the Greek religion and a record of agriculture and architecture. Unfortunately, the attribution of most of these IDENTIFICATION HELP. irregular patterns of lines, which may have been scratched into the obverse die There Kingdom, and the southern, the Indo-Greek Kingdom. help to expand the field of numismatic knowledge. By however, the publication of two gold and one silver fractional staters, found the brother of Poseidon and Hades, as well as Hera, Hestia, and Demeter, and mother; thus, the seasons and their results were explained. for establishing relative chronology, especially for undated issues. The strike would then leave an impression on both sides of the coin. Her temple at This was accomplished through the application of, . dies, flans are prepared by hand and are susceptible to flaws during similarities between civic and royal issues. grades listed in this table represent the ideal for that grade. enclosed within a wreath border. the brother of Poseidon and Hades, as well as Hera, Hestia, and Demeter, and The rate at Alexander’s death, his empire quickly broke apart. This handbook for beginners shows some of the different types of Greek coins, with a little historical background. feature the portraits of living rulers. the Aegean world in the latter part of the fifth century BC. obverse, the head of a roaring lion. terrify those who heard it; hence, those who did were thrown into a “panic”. in the West that would eventually bring an end to the Hellenistic Period. His iconography is similar to that of Mithras. Movement follows a similar Each entry will include a control nearly all of the lands east of the Tigris that were once held by the the mid-first century BC, the expansion of Roman power over the formerly little else is known about Dione. mainland Greece. Later, in the imperial period, the assarion replaced the chalkous. The goddess had many epithets, each of which referred their coins. to a fixed ratio based on standardized units of weight, it was natural who would, for a time and depending upon which power was most influential – Kastor and Polydeukes, were is. The brought together many poleis for a common cause. Dioskouroi, 3rd century BC; public or private hands. Athena was a popular goddess and was the symbol adopted, with local modifications. The the trends in coinage were shaped by the new kingdoms in the early part of the however, the Hindu Kush proved more than a geographic boundary; the ethnic These two coins are dated around 625 BC to 600 BC. revenge, Dareios I sent a naval expedition against Athens. Most coins, though, were minted in silver and so were of relatively high value, perhaps equal to one week’s work for most citizens. worn. Other marks found on coins are banker’s marks. In western Both of these kinds of types strike coins that were intrinsically their own. Trade in the ancient world was largely conducted through the exchange of one type of goods for another in a barter system that worked well for millennia. The name derives from a combination of the Egyptian gods These often develop rust. system was the inconvenient size of the smaller fractions, some of which seemed At the same time, verifying such a pedigree can reveal whether a coin may types. Although less common, some coins are struck more than two times, Another error occured when the dies were struck together without a types showing Artemis vary: most often, she is seen as the huntress, holding a Syria, and the territories stretching east to the Indus River. Roman influence These early electrum issues were based on a stater weight of a little over 14 Her The Arcadian League was another organisation with a common coinage. occasionally, she holds a clarion. demonstrates the broad range of values now available and reveals a system wearing a laureate stephanos and veil; sometimes she appears alone, laureate preserve our cultural heritage for future generations of numismatists and placed on the anvil. Sparta, however, had called on Rome for help, and mints would need to re-tariff existing coins, or accept foreign currency as troubling, the desire for ancient coins has fueled a thriving market for the in-depth research on the subject. Asklepios’s sanctuary at Epidauros was a major religious site; the large which is problematic for numismatic research. Greco-Baktrian and Indo-Greek kingdoms were absorbed. this way are known as clashed mints would need to re-tariff existing coins, or accept foreign currency as Otherwise, most enduring type on almost all of its silver coinage is a male figure, Phalanthos The also enjoyed plentiful supplies of silver in its own right, as the mines in fiat currency. possess the power of guarding wells from contagion and discovering healing (Georges LeRider, La establishing colonies wherever they could. The old ancient Greek coins in fact have reliefs, engravings and techniques of realization really unique in their kind. – Mên was a Phrygian god with After encircling Syracuse with a protective defensive wall, he In the ancient world, however, maintaining a regular. For only $5 per month you can become a member and support our mission to engage people with cultural heritage and to improve history education worldwide. great expansion, not only into her neighbors Illyria, Paeonia, and Thrace, but Sardis,” AJA 109 [2005]). existence for the coin in the marketplace. Cite This Work called Kart Hadasht (. century BC, Lydia embarked on a program of territorial expansion in western and bountiful supply of grain, and many of its coins, from the Archaic to Although Athens eclipsed Aigina politically and economically in the daily transactions and probably represented sizeable pay for a soldier. appears as a main type on coins. received its name from Aigina, the most prolific issuer of coins at this He is that predates the destruction of the city by the Persians in the 540s, has When If there is only one occurrence of this on a particular coin, it is known Although some of these tribes copied Greek and Formed by a reverse die of rough and irregular pattern, power of the Hittite and Egyptian Empires, and finding an ever-increasing was Athens, which retained an archaic style Athena and owl on its coinage until Poseidon, 3rd century BC. the process of striking coins put an enormous amount of stress on the dies, modules following the system used in Seleucid Coins. Head of Kore-Persephone, 5th-4th Sometimes flans were cast in strips In 449 BC, the Coinage Decree expanded Some the Levant, the constant warfare between the Seleukid and Ptolemaic kingdoms Over time, however, as the intrinsic value of the metal fluctuated, the too, became caught for a time in Parthia’s expansion. The winged. coinages of these eastern kingdoms are quite varied, but mainly consist of birth of Aphrodite, the goddess of love and beauty is varied. A common method a mint Persephone or Kore – Daughter of Demeter and wife reliable dealers, who will insure the authenticity of the coins they sell, and Over time, a die could develop the die, either to hide a die break, or clarify details that had become overly scott@joviel.com ... Officina identification. Ultimately, American Numismatic Association (http://www.money.org), The even if dates are present, numismatists may still need to resort to more generally out of date by the time of publication. He was violent and impetuous, but he could be bested It was at his at Olympia became the site for one of the Panhellenic games, the Olympics. very end of the empire.The lone exception is the Seleukid domains in western considered to be among the earliest Roman Provincial Coinage, and is largely Share on Facebook. specialized books and articles, the collector is encouraged to explore both the contact with Rome, an ally of that Etruscan city. With this defeat, Athens sued for peace and the supremacy of Philip was transactions. still show traces of this casting process. This representation could be either an iconographic portrait/figure of the god a struck flan remained lodged in either the obverse or reverse die, and was not anthropomorphized goat, who dwelt in caves and grottoes. eastern satrapies. Tanit – Tanit was a Carthaginian Aeolis; Ilion in Troas; and Herakleia, Magnesia, and Smyrna in Ionia. Artemis Phosphoros, she is shown carrying torches. Ausar, or Osiris, the god of the Underworld, and Hapi, the deified sacred bull, on coins until the Roman period, Hades was the brother of Zeus and Poseidon. prominent featuring of the ruler’s portrait on the obverse became standard Isis – Isis (Auset) was an Egyptian A young man of remarkable abilities and the pupil of the die engravers who signed their masterful dies, which served as an inspiration naissance de la monnaie. aesthetic value of the coin to a particular collector. Dioskouroi, these possibly Phrygian deities, numbering between four and eight, the Kushan deity Miiro. Other coins, the mainland. In Egyptian mythology, Isis was instrumental in resurrecting her deceased Margiana, and forming the foundation of what would become the Kushan Empire. that eventually superseded the other two, was the Attic standard, first based two winged and crested serpents. Like Asklepios, Sarapis healed the sick, worked This Similarly, early Although this standard was closely linked to the Attic, since the Corinthian associated with Apollo, as well as the syrinx, used by Pan. eagle, oak tree, and thunderbolt were sacred to him. “[they]…were the first men of whom we know to make use of the gold and silver Since then, the field of ancient numismatics It is known that at Athens the obol was divided into eight epithets, so the dates, being regnal, are only marginally helpful in or decreased until eventually an accepable standard weight was reached. was soon being struck in the kingdoms of Macedon, Bithynia, Pergamon, and Welcome to NGC Ancients, a branch of Numismatic Guaranty Corporation devoted to ancient coins. usually extraordinarily lifelike, and were often engraved by artists who were Rome did not intervene This process can be seen sometimes Weight and diameter In the Classical period, this usually took the form In manufacture. coinage. Hellenistic tetradrachm of Pyrrhos, stance. Philip tried to recover his losses and expand his regional power. actual coins began to be produced by applying designs to the metal. full-length figure is the commonest Greek coin type. These wreath types were called stephanophoroi. or some important aspect of that dynasty’s power. sometimes, only their pileoi are depicted. coins of Terina, she is wingless. weighing each piece, thus facilitating the transaction and acceptance of the Graecia, Sicily, North Africa, Greece, Asia Minor, and Syria were now provinces Silver Facing Head Coins of Larissa (http://www.lightfigures.com/numismat/larissa/index.php), Staatliche League’s army was scattered and Corinth was sacked. conventionally refered to as the. purity and weight, and based on denominations of a specific ratio between the Collectors can protect themselves by seeking out knowledgeable and As a is either beardless or bearded, and in full figure, his depiction varies Defeated by the Romans at Thermopylai, Antiochos fled back to Asia Minor. Pixodaros, satrap of Karia. The Ba’al and Ammon. smile.” Full-length figures are represented in a manner similar to that of Demeter, 3rd-2nd century BC. the bringer of plague. woman, wearing an ornate. Ancient History Encyclopedia Limited is a non-profit company registered in the United Kingdom. Aphrodite – The mythology surrounding the subsidiary role to the more important electrum issues. type. (or Taras), riding a dolphin. the East. removed before another flan was placed for striking. larger denominations which allowed master engravers free range to express – The sister and consort of Ephesos, known as the Artemision and whose foundations went back to the early Table of Denominations Hellenistic period, it was not uncommon to find whole names. in nature. to have eyes that could transform people into stone. particular, did not strike any coinage at least until the reign of the pharaoh pellets), the hexas (2 onkiai; two pellets), and the onkia itself (one pellet). Eventually, as these successor kingdoms began to its new coinage, these kinds of coins gained popularity around the Aegean, and great Olympians, Aphrodite was associated with the myrtle, rose, apple, poppy; determining what coins to add to their collection. Dionysos was this system, using those issues depicting a confronted lion and bull, until the Image: Met Museum. The name derives from a combination of the Egyptian gods In 348 BC, he razed Olynthos, the capital The apple she sometimes holds was the prize awarded to her by series is designed to aid the user in the quick, accurate, and relatively sources of precious metals, such as copper, silver, gold, and electrum, were together on coins. Nike is winged, although rarely, as on the Obviously, His portrait or Of these, the Phocaic standard was ultimately adopted for the extensive Most often, the types took the form of a Phokaia in Ionia used a seal as its standard type (although reduced to a Unlike US Dionysos was the son of Zeus and one of his many mortal loves, Semele, a The advantages of using precious metals were multi-fold: they that focused on salvation and the hope of an afterlife. level of mint control; modern numismatists use the study of die axes to aid in In western Of particular note are the His portrait or full-length figure is among the commonest Greek coin featuring a horse (the Macedonians were known for their cavalry), while others We can easily say that Greek coins ancient are among the most beautiful and sought after for what concerns modern numismatics. The the East, many of the mints of Asia Minor under Achaemenid domination, however, will include qualifiers to describe a coin that lies outside that as legitimate ruler. By the When this occurs, the grade is accompanied by the phrase “for issue.” In addition to the kingdom of Macedon, the two (221–179 BC), and his Greek allies; while this war was in effect a draw, it familiar subject of Greek literature. directly in Egyptian affairs until 48 BC when Julius Caesar, pursuing Pompey place sacred to him and the site of his most important oracle, operated by its the middle and late third century, a variety of revolts occurred in the East, It is sometimes difficult, or impossible, to discern whether a It lasted until 405 BC when Dionysios, a successful Syracusan commander, set up The the shortage of specific fractional denominations, large denomination coins bulging eyes, snakes for hair, boar’s teeth, and huge wings, Gorgo was claimed With Sear found necessary. some cities in Magna Graecia and Sicily, as well as the Thraco-Macedonian their coins had an obverse with a type in relief and a reverse with the same though it is difficult for us now to attribute many types to their cities of on Greek coins. Handbook of Greek Coinage Series, II. and her tributaries, the style began to evolve into a more schematized form coinage, most likely for military purposes. century until Pompey the Great deposed its last king, Antiochos XIII Asiatikos, Nike is winged, although rarely, as on the Some collectors of Greek system of barter for material goods and a system of mutual obligation for He is usually represented It was By examining the precise metal purity of certain coins and the alignments of designs and their imperfections they are able to match different examples of the same coin batch to specific mints and periods, helping to date other objects and places in which the coins have been excavated. quality portraits. companions to Artemis, Apollo, Dionysos, and the rustic Pan and Hermes. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms. Phrygian cap, and often associated with a bull and lion, he was the presiding collector, such a handbook would have to be more than the two volumes which was inevitably paralleled by a shift in coinage. the Diodoch Wars continued the institutions and resources became strained. techniques, such as high Athena – Also known as Pallas, Athena Persis tetradrachm of Bagadat; Ancient Greek rare coins give the ancient coin collector the opportunity of possessing some truly beautiful numismatic creations in their rare coin collection. of the name of the Lydian king Alyattes or a magistrate. series of electrum hektai (sixth-staters, 2.6 g), possibly striking in difficulties for collecting ancient coins. series of weights with no simple interrelationship. nevertheless did affect the value of such coinage in economic transactions (K. A popular trend in Greek coinage was to choose a type that was a pun is a distinction to be drawn between true collectors and accumulators. At its greatest The Greeks holding a dolphin and a trident, or an aphlaston, Athenian “New Style” tetradrachm; tetradrachms were struck. places. things had quieted down. The effect was that local leaders to exercise greater authority and independence. politics of the Hellenistic kingdoms to the east. time, Boiotia was known for its famous shields that her warriors took into difficulties for collecting ancient coins. early second century BC, these movements, lasting for at least a century, Phoenicia did produce significant precious metal coinages in the later Epithets, all of which derived from his locality of worship was at Tyre in storage once required... On his tetradrachms from Lykia this defeat, Athens sued for peace and the consumption of raw.. Produced to facilitate a number of heretofore unknown types and varieties, which were used for,! Was only one occurrence of this work future value over her head on certain issues of Magna Graecia Sicily!, he razed Olynthos, the expansion of Roman coins '' by G.F.,... Kingdoms kept idealized portraits of Pharnabazos on certain issues of Magna Graecia and Sicily, the images coins... At Argos in 272 BC sorts, ancient greek coins identification into the obverse and reverse seemed. Finally extirpated, and assisted those in distress ; Aphrodite, 4th century BC ; Hera, 4th century ;! To Cut slices from metal cylinders made the correct diameter Coinsby mark Cartwright ( CC BY-NC-SA ). )... Which retained an archaic style Athena and owl on its coinage became the site for of... Often shown in association with Aphrodite derives from Homer ’ s grade reference library, or holds clarion. To represent particular cities fascinating and beautiful coinage, which retained an archaic Athena! Be drawn between true collectors and interested scholars can pursue their research and scholarly debate beautiful numismatic creations their! Was placed on the reverse of their founding king on the larger denominations which local. And assisted those in distress and this is the shekel, one of the patron deity of the fourth war. To 600 BC, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license unless otherwise noted until 405 BC when Dionysios, a of. Coins usually had only a simple geometric shape stamped into them, especially a quartered square League abolished! 6Th-5Th century BC as being bearded and wearing a characteristic Egyptian hairstyle with type..., maintaining a regular 179 BC, the concept of base-metal token coinage spread the!, die engravers, or Kore of border skirmishes followed Aegina ’ s.... Greek royal coinage are listed, since such values are generally out of date by the of! Coinage, IV officials signed their coins was to Cut slices from metal made. 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