Philip V King of Macedonia 221BC Ancient Greek Coin Zeus Athena RARE i47580

Item: i47580

Authentic Ancient

Coin of:

Greek 
Philip V
King of Macedonia: 221-179 B.C.
Bronze 20mm (2.84 grams) Struck circa 221-179 B.C.
Reference: SNGCop 1244
Diademed head of Zeus right.
Β-Α Φ, Athena Alkidemos standing right throwing a spear and holding shield.

Son of Demetrios II, Philip V came to power in 221 B.C. on the death of
Antigonos Doson. He was a vigorous ruler and maintained the power of the
Macedonian kingdom in the earlier part of his reign. However, he made the
mistake of arousing the enmity of the Romans, and in 197 B.C. his power was
crushed at the battle of the Kynoskephalai by the Roman general T. Quinctius
Flamininus. After this his power and territory were severely curtailed by Rome,
and the days of the Macedonian kingdom were numbered.

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Authenticity.

In
Greek religion
and
mythology
, Athena or Athene, also
referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage,
inspiration, civilization, law and justice, just warfare, mathematics, strength,
strategy, the arts, crafts, and skill.
Minerva
is the
Roman goddess

identified with
Athena.

Marble Greek copy signed “Antiokhos”, a first century BC variant of

Phidias
‘
fifth-century
Athena Promachos

that stood on the
Acropolis

Athena is also a shrewd companion of

heroes and is the
goddess
of heroic endeavour. She is the
virgin
patroness of
Athens
. The Athenians founded the
Parthenon
on the Acropolis of her namesake
city, Athens (Athena Parthenos), in her honour.

Athena’s veneration as the patron of Athens seems to have existed from the
earliest times, and was so persistent that archaic myths about her were recast
to adapt to cultural changes. In her role as a protector of the city (polis),
many people throughout the Greek world worshiped Athena as Athena Polias
(Ἀθηνᾶ Πολιάς “Athena of the city”). The city of
Athens
and the goddess Athena essentially bear
the same name, “Athenai” meaning “[many] Athenas”.

Patroness

Athenian
tetradrachm
representing the
goddess Athena

Athena as the goddess of philosophy became an aspect of the cult in Classical
Greece during the late 5th century B.C. She is the patroness of various crafts,
especially of weaving
, as Athena Ergane, and was
honored as such at festivals such as
Chalceia
. The metalwork of weapons also fell
under her patronage. She led battles (Athena
Promachos or the warrior maiden Athena Parthenos) as the
disciplined, strategic side of war, in contrast to her brother

Ares, the patron of violence, bloodlust and slaughter—”the raw force
of war”. Athena’s wisdom includes the cunning intelligence (metis) of
such figures as Odysseus
. Not only was this version of Athena
the opposite of Ares in combat, it was also the polar opposite of the serene
earth goddess version of the deity, Athena Polias.

Athena appears in Greek mythology as the patron and helper of many heroes,
including Odysseus
,
Jason
, and
Heracles
. In
Classical Greek
myths, she never consorts with
a lover, nor does she ever marry,earning the title Athena Parthenos. A
remnant of archaic myth depicts her as the adoptive mother of
Erechtheus
/Erichthonius
through the foiled rape by
Hephaestus
. Other variants relate that
Erichthonius, the serpent that accompanied Athena, was born to
Gaia
: when the rape failed, the semen landed on
Gaia and impregnated her. After Erechthonius was born, Gaia gave him to Athena.

Though Athena is a goddess of war strategy, she disliked fighting without
purpose and preferred to use wisdom to settle predicaments.The goddess only
encouraged fighting for a reasonable cause or to resolve conflict. As patron of
Athens she fought in the Trojan war on the side of the Achaeans.

Lady of Athens

Athena competed with
Poseidon
to be the patron deity of Athens,
which was yet unnamed, in a version of one
founding myth
. They agreed that each would give
the Athenians one gift and that the Athenians would choose the gift they
preferred. Poseidon struck the ground with his
trident
and a salt water spring sprang up; this
gave them a means of trade and water—Athens at its height was a significant sea
power, defeating the
Persian
fleet at the
Battle of Salamis
—but the water was salty and
not very good for drinking.

Athena, however, offered them the first domesticated
olive tree
. The Athenians (or their king,
Cecrops
) accepted the olive tree and with it
the patronage of Athena, for the olive tree brought wood, oil, and food.
Robert Graves
was of the opinion that
“Poseidon’s attempts to take possession of certain cities are political myths”
which reflect the conflict between matriarchal and patriarchal religions.

Judgment of Paris

Aphrodite is being surveyed by Paris, while Athena (the leftmost
figure) and Hera stand nearby.
El Juicio de Paris
by
Enrique Simonet
, ca. 1904

All the gods and goddesses as well as various mortals were invited to the
marriage of Peleus
and
Thetis
(the eventual parents of
Achilles
). Only
Eris
, goddess of discord, was not invited. She
was annoyed at this, so she arrived with a golden apple inscribed with the word
καλλίστῃ (kallistēi, “for the fairest”), which she threw among the goddesses.
Aphrodite, Hera, and Athena all claimed to be the fairest, and thus the rightful
owner of the apple.

The goddesses chose to place the matter before Zeus, who, not wanting to
favor one of the goddesses, put the choice into the hands of Paris, a

Trojan prince. After bathing in the spring of
Mount Ida
(where Troy was situated), the
goddesses appeared before Paris. The goddesses undressed and presented
themselves to Paris naked, either at his request or for the sake of winning.

Paris is awarding the apple to Aphrodite, while Athena makes a face.
Urteil des Paris by
Anton Raphael Mengs
, ca. 1757

Still, Paris could not decide, as all three were ideally beautiful, so they
resorted to bribes. Hera tried to bribe Paris with control over all

Asia and Europe
, while Athena offered wisdom, fame and
glory in battle, but Aphrodite came forth and whispered to Paris that if he were
to choose her as the fairest he would have the most beautiful mortal woman in
the world as a wife, and he accordingly chose her. This woman was
Helen
, who was, unfortunately for Paris,
already married to King
Menelaus
of
Sparta
. The other two goddesses were enraged by
this and through Helen’s abduction by Paris they brought about the
Trojan War
.

Other epithets were
Ageleia
and
Itonia
.

The Parthenon
, Temple of Athena
Parthenos

Athena was given many other cult titles. She has the epithet Athena Ergane
as the patron of craftsmen and artisans. With the epithet
Athena Parthenos
(“virgin”) she was
especially worshipped in the festivals of the
Panathenaea
and
Pamboeotia
where both militaristic and athletic
displays took place.With the epithet
Athena Promachos
she led in battle (see
Promachos
). With the epithet Athena Polias
(“of the city”), Athena was the protector of not only Athens but also of many
other cities, including
Argos
,
Sparta
,
Gortyn
,
Lindos
, and
Larisa
.

Masculinity and
feminism

Athena had an “androgynous compromise” that allowed her traits and what she
stood for to be attributed to male and female rulers alike over the course of
history (such as Marie de’ Medici, Anne of Austria, Christina of Sweden, and
Catherine the Great)

J.J. Bachofen advocated that Athena was originally a maternal figure stable
in her security and poise but was caught up and perverted by a patriarchal
society; this was especially the case in Athens. The goddess adapted but could
very easily be seen as a god. He viewed it as “motherless paternity in the place
of fatherless maternity” where once altered, Athena’s character was to be
crystallized as that of a patriarch.

Whereas Bachofen saw the switch to paternity on Athena’s behalf as an
increase of power, Freud on the contrary perceived Athena as an “original mother
goddess divested of her power”. In this interpretation, Athena was demoted to be
only Zeus’s daughter, never allowed the expression of motherhood. Still more
different from Bachofen’s perspective is the lack of role permanency in Freud’s
view: Freud held that time and differing cultures would mold Athena to stand for
what was necessary to them.

In the
ancient Greek

religion
, Zeus

zews


zooss
;
Ancient Greek
: Ζεύς;
Modern
Greek
: Δίας, Dias) was the “Father of Gods and men” (πατὴρ
ἀνδρῶν τε θεῶν τε) who ruled the Olympians of
Mount
Olympus
as a father ruled the family. He was the
god of sky

and
thunder
in
Greek mythology
. His
Roman
counterpart is
Jupiter
and
Etruscan
counterpart is
Tinia
.

Zeus was the child of
Cronus
and
Rhea
, and the youngest of his siblings. In most
traditions he was married to

Hera, although, at the oracle of
Dodona
, his consort was
Dione
: according to the
Iliad
, he is the father of
Aphrodite
by Dione.^[2]
He is known for his erotic escapades. These resulted in many godly and heroic
offspring, including
Athena
,
Apollo
and
Artemis
,
Hermes
,
Persephone
(by
Demeter
),
Dionysus
,
Perseus
,
Heracles
,
Helen of Troy
,
Minos
, and the

Muses (by
Mnemosyne
); by Hera, he is usually said to have
fathered
Ares
,
Hebe
and
Hephaestus
.^[5]

As
Walter Burkert
points out in his book, Greek
Religion, “Even the gods who are not his natural children address him as
Father, and all the gods rise in his presence.”^[6]
For the Greeks, he was the
King of the Gods
, who oversaw the universe. As
Pausanias
observed, “That Zeus is king in
heaven is a saying common to all men”.^[7]
In Hesiod’s
Theogony
Zeus assigns the various gods
their roles. In the
Homeric Hymns
he is referred to as the
chieftain of the gods.

His symbols are the
thunderbolt
,
eagle
,
bull
, and
oak.
In addition to his Indo-European inheritance, the classical “cloud-gatherer”
also derives certain iconographic traits from the cultures of the
Ancient Near East
, such as the
scepter
. Zeus is frequently depicted by Greek
artists in one of two poses: standing, striding forward, with a thunderbolt
leveled in his raised right hand, or seated in majesty.

The Chariot of Zeus, from an 1879 Stories from the Greek
Tragedians by Alfred Church

Philip V  (238 BC – 179 BC) was King of
Macedon
from 221 BC to 179 BC. Philip’s reign
was principally marked by an unsuccessful struggle with the emerging power of
Rome
. Philip was attractive and charismatic as
a young man. A dashing and courageous warrior, he was inevitably compared to
Alexander the Great
and was nicknamed the
darling of Hellas.

//

 Early
life

The son of
Demetrius II
and Chryseis, Philip was nine
years old at his father’s death in 229 BC. He had an elder paternal half sister
called Apame
.
^[3]
His cousin,
Antigonus Doson
, administered the kingdom as
regent until his death in 221 BC when Philip was seventeen years old.

On his ascent to the throne, Philip quickly showed that while he was young,
this did not mean that Macedon was weak. In the first year of his rule, he
pushed back the Dardani
and other tribes in the north of the
country.

 The
Social War

In the Social War (220
BC–217
BC), the Hellenic League of Greek states was assembled at Philip V’s
instigation in Corinth
. He then led the Hellenic League in
battles against Aetolia
,
Sparta
and

Elis. At the same time he was able to stamp on his own authority
amongst his own ministers. His leadership during the Social War made him
well-known and respected both within his own kingdom and abroad.

 First
Macedonian War

After the Peace of Naupactus in 217 BC, Philip V tried to replace
Roman
influence along the eastern shore of the
Adriatic
, forming alliances or lending
patronage to certain island and coastal provinces such as

Lato on Crete. He first tried to invade
Illyria
from the sea, but with limited success.
His first expedition in 216 BC had to be aborted, while he suffered the loss of
his whole fleet in a second expedition in 214 BC. A later expedition by land met
with greater success when he captured
Lissus
in 212 BC.

In 215 BC he entered into a treaty with
Hannibal
, the
Carthaginian
general then in the middle of an
invasion of Roman Italy. Their treaty defined spheres of operation and interest,
but achieve little of substance or value for either side. Philip became heavily
involved in assisting and protecting his allies from attacks from the
Spartans
, the Romans and their allies.

Rome’s alliance with the
Aetolian League
in 211 BC effectively
neutralised Philip’s advantage on land. The intervention of
Attalus I of Pergamum
on the Roman side further
exposed Philip’s position in Macedonia.

Philip was able to take advantage of the withdrawal of Attalus from the Greek
mainland in 207 BC, along with Roman inactivity and the increasing role of
Philopoemen
, the
strategos
of the
Achaean League
. After sacking Thermum, the
religious and political centre of
Aetolia
, Philip was able to force the Aetolians
to accept his terms in 206 BC. The following year he was able to conclude the
Peace of Phoenice
with Rome and its allies.

 Expansion
in the Aegean

Following an agreement with the
Seleucid
king
Antiochus III
to capture Egyptian held
territory from the boy king
Ptolemy V
, Philip was able to gain control of
Egyptian territory in the
Aegean Sea
and in
Anatolia
. This expansion of Macedonian
influence created alarm in a number of neighbouring states, including
Pergamum
and
Rhodes
. Their navies clashed with Philip’s off
Chios
and

Lade (near
Miletus
) in 201 BC. At around the same time,
the Romans were finally the victorious over Carthage.

 Second
Macedonian War

Kingdom of Macedon on the eve of the Second Macedonian War, circa
200 BC.

In 200 BC, with Carthage no longer a threat, the Romans declared war on
Macedon arguing that they were intervening to protect the freedom of the Greeks.
After campaigns in
Macedonia
in 199 BC and
Thessaly
in 198 BC, Philip and his Macedonian
forces were decisively defeated at the
Battle of Cynoscephalae
in 197 BC. The war also
proved the superiority of the
Roman legion
over the Greek
phalanx formation
.

 Alliance
with Rome

The resulting peace treaty between Philip V and the Romans confined Philip to
Macedonia and required him to pay 1000
talents

indemnity
, surrender most of its fleet and
provide a number of hostages, including his younger son Demetrius. After this,
Philip cooperated with the Romans and sent help to them in their fight against
the Spartans under King
Nabis
in 195 BC. Philip also supported the
Romans against Antiochus III (192 BC-189 BC).

In return for his help when Roman forces under
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus
and his
brother
Lucius Cornelius Scipio Asiaticus
moved through
Macedon and Thrace
in 190 BC, the Romans forgave the
remaining indemnity that he had to pay and his son Demetrius was freed. Philip
then focused on consolidating power within Macedon. He reorganised the country’s
internal affairs and finances, mines were reopened and a new currency was
issued.

 Final
years

However, Rome continued to be suspicious of Philip’s intentions. Accusations
by Macedon’s neighboring states, particularly
Pergamum
, led to constant interference from
Rome. Feeling the threat growing that Rome would invade Macedon and remove him
as king, he tried to extend his influence in the
Balkans
by force and diplomacy. However, his
efforts were undermined by the pro-Roman policy of his younger son Demetrius,
who was encouraged by Rome to consider the possibility of succession ahead of
his older brother,
Perseus
. This eventually led to a quarrel
between Perseus and Demetrius which forced Philip to reluctantly decide to
execute Demetrius for treason in 180 BC. This decision had a severe impact on
Philip’s health and he died a year later at
Amphipolis
.

He was succeeded by his eldest son
Perseus
, who ruled as the last king of
Macedon
.

The history of
Ancient Greek
coinage can be divided (along
with most other Greek art forms) 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

Above: Six rod-shaped obeloi (oboloi) displayed at the
Numismatic Museum of Athens
,
discovered at
Heraion of Argos
. Below: grasp^[1]
of six oboloi forming one drachma

Electrum
coin from
Ephesus
, 620-600 BC, known as
Phanes’ coin
. Obverse:
Stag
grazing, ΦΑΝΕΩΣ (retrograde).
Reverse: Two incuse punches.

The basic 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. The word
drachm
(a) means “a handful”, literally “a
grasp”. Drachmae were divided into six
obols
(from the Greek word for a
spit
), 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 of
daily transaction. 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 (which also gave the
euphemistic

diminutive
“obelisk“,
“little spit”), the word obol (ὀβολός, obolós, or ὀβελός,
obelós) was retained as a Greek word for coins of small value, still used as
such in Modern Greek
slang (όβολα, óvola,
“monies”).

The obol was further subdivided into tetartemorioi (singular
tetartemorion) which represented 1/4 of an obol, or 1/24 of a drachm. This
coin (which was known to have been struck in
Athens
,
Colophon
, and several other cities) is
mentioned by Aristotle
as the smallest silver coin.^:237
Various multiples of this denomination were also struck, including the
trihemitetartemorion (literally three half-tetartemorioi) valued at 3/8 of
an obol.^:

Denominations of silver drachma
Image	Denomination	Value	Weight
	Dekadrachm	10 drachmas	43 grams
	Tetradrachm	4 drachmas	17.2 grams
	Didrachm	2 drachmas	8.6 grams
	Drachma	6 obols	4.3 grams
	Tetrobol	4 obols	2.85 grams
	Triobol (hemidrachm)	3 obols	2.15 grams
	Diobol	2 obols	1.43 grams
	Obol	4 tetartemorions	0.72 grams
	Tritartemorion	3 tetartemorions	0.54 grams
	Hemiobol	2 tetartemorions	0.36 grams
	Trihemitartemorion	3/2 tetartemorions	0.27 grams
	Tetartemorion		0.18 grams
	Hemitartemorion	½ tetartemorion	0.09 grams

Archaic period

Archaic coinage

Uninscribed
electrum
coin from
Lydia
, 6th century BCE.
Obverse: lion head and sunburst Reverse: plain square
imprints, probably used to standardise weight

Electrum
coin from
Ephesus
, 620-600 BC. Obverse:
Forepart of stag. Reverse: Square incuse punch.

The first 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.

Coins of Aegina

Silver
stater
of Aegina, 550-530 BC.
Obv.
Sea turtle
with large pellets
down center. Rev. incuse square with eight sections. After the
end of the
Peloponnesian War
, 404 BC, Sea
turtle was replaced by the land
tortoise
.

Silver
drachma
of Aegina, 404-340 BC.
Obverse: Land
tortoise
. Reverse: inscription
AΙΓ[INAΤΟΝ] ([of the] Aeg[inetans]) “Aegina” and dolphin.

The Greek world was divided into more than two thousand self-governing
city-states (in
Greek
, poleis), 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 (6.1 grams to the drachm), 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 (often the most widely used) 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

A
Syracusan

tetradrachm
(c. 415–405
BC)
Obverse: head of the
nymph

Arethusa
, surrounded by
four swimming
dolphins
and a
rudder

Reverse: a racing
quadriga
, its
charioteer
crowned by the
goddess
Victory
in flight.

Tetradrachm of Athens, (5th century BC)
Obverse: a portrait of
Athena
, patron goddess of
the city, in
helmet

Reverse: the owl of Athens, with an
olive
sprig and the
inscription “ΑΘΕ”, short for ΑΘΕΝΑΙΟΝ, “of the
Athenians
“

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 (10-drachm) 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.

Hellenistic period

Gold 20-stater
of
Eucratides I
, the largest gold coin
ever minted in Antiquity.

Drachma of
Alexandria
, 222-235 AD. Obverse:
Laureate head of
Alexander Severus
, KAI(ΣΑΡ)
MAP(ΚΟΣ) AYP(ΗΛΙΟΣ) ΣЄY(ΑΣΤΟΣ) AΛЄΞANΔPOΣ ЄYΣЄ(ΒΗΣ). Reverse: Bust
of
Asclepius
.

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
(reigned 171–145 BC), the largest
silver coin by the Indo-Greek king
Amyntas Nikator
(reigned c. 95–90 BC). The
portraits “show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland
depictions of their royal contemporaries further West” (Roger Ling, “Greece and
the Hellenistic World”).

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
(arrogance). 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 (in
incuso
) 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” (σέλινον
– celery
). 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” (ῥόδον^[8]
– rose
). Coins of
Knossos
depicted the
labyrinth
or the mythical creature
minotaur
, a symbol of the
Minoan Crete
. Coins of
Melos
depicted a “mēlon” (μήλον –
apple
). Coins of
Thebes
depicted a Boeotian shield.

Corinthian stater with
pegasus

Coin of
Rhodes
with a
rose

Didrachm of
Selinunte
with a
celery

Coin of
Ephesus
with a
bee

Stater of
Olympia
depicting
Nike

Coin of
Melos
with an
apple

Obolus from
Stymphalia
with a
Stymphalian bird

Coin of
Thebes
with a Boeotian shield

Coin of Gela
with a man-headed bull,
the personification of the river
Gela

Didrachm of
Knossos
depicting the
Minotaur

Commemorative coins

 

Dekadrachm
of
Syracuse
^{[disambiguation
needed]}. Head of Arethusa or queen
Demarete. ΣΥΡΑΚΟΣΙΟΝ (of the Syracusians), around four dolphins

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 (including
Greek) 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.
Coins are the only art form from the Ancient world which is common enough and
durable enough to be within the reach of ordinary collectors.