Ancient Greek coins

Ancient Greek coins are similar in appearance to modern ones. For a period of 1000 years and considering the small cities states and the colonies we can assume that there exists a rich set of different coins. The drachma (Δραχμή) was a currency that also the new Greek State adopted and that is now replaced by the EURO. This ends the history of the drachma which lasted for more than 1 millennium.

Like other manufactured products in ancient Greece, Greek coins were made by hand. A blank metal circular “flan” was placed on an obverse die that rested on an anvil and then was struck with a hammer bearing a reverse die. The nature of the process naturally produced coins in which the image was often poorly centered on the flan.

Nevertheless, the issuing authority, usually a government, was clear as the designs or “types” of the coins expressed an image symbolic of the issuing authority and were often augmented by a “legend” of letters that spelled out an abbreviation of the issuing authority’s name. The “types” and “legends” identify the authority and certify that the piece of metal is legal currency, at least within the area governed by that authority.

In the Greek period, when the city-state was the main political unit, it was the city that issued coins. In Hellenistic times most coins were issued by the rulers of the kingdoms that were created after the death of Alexander the Great. In Roman imperial times most were issued by the empire, by the emperor himself or jointly by the emperor and the Roman Senate. The Hellenistic kingdoms and Rome sometimes granted individual cities under their power the right to mint their own coins, although only coins of lesser value.

Ancient Greece coins were made from gold, silver, electrum, and copper and its alloys, bronze or brass. The earliest coins, minted in Asia Minor in the mid- to late seventh century B.C., were of naturally-occurring electrum, an alloy of gold and at least 20 per cent silver. Early electrum coins were minted for only about fifty years, and by the middle of the sixth century they were replaced by coins of silver. Gold coins did not become common until the time of Philip II, the father of Alexander the Great.

The most widely circulated coinage was during Classical period. In this time appear a large numbers of hoards found throughout the Greek world and beyond. Athens used its coinage to pay for its military operations abroad and even issued the “Standards Decree,” which for a few decades of the fifth century required the many cities of the Aegean Sea under its control to discontinue their local types and use only Athenian coinage. The local coinage had to be turned in, melted down, and re-struck as Athenian coinage for a fee. Unlike that of Athens, most city-states coinages circulated only locally. When such local issues were taken abroad, they were probably treated as bullion, as can be inferred from test-cuts often found on them.