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Collecting Ancient Greek Coins

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Collecting Ancient Greek Coins Collecting Ancient Greek Coins 1 Part I of a two part series, by Vincent McCarthy with price guide Before the introduction of coinage as we know Deities from the pantheon are a popular reli- ing hare on its coins whilst Akragas always it, the ancient peoples used a system of barter. gious theme and of course appear very fre- used the city badge of a large crab. But Anything that could be used to sustain or quently. Their features, lovingly engraved on arguably the finest coinage ever designed and improve the lives of the people was used as metal dies are often superbly executed in high produced came from the city of Syracuse dur- currency; animals and livestock, household relief and of sculptural quality. Zeus and ing the period of the tyrant Gelon (485- utensils, tools, weapons and metal ingots were Poseidon appear strong and majestic; Apollo 478BC). These consisted of large silver pieces all popular goods for trading. soulful; Dionysus or Bacchus and Heracles are of medallic quality allowing full scope for the The earliest coins were produced in modern vigorous and powerful. best artists to engrave wonderfully sensitive day Turkey during the 7th century BC and they works. The profile heads of Arethusa by consisted of small bun-shaped ingots of pre- 4 Kimon or Euainetos are quite breathtaking and cious metals. Electrum was used initially as it very much sought after. They cost tens of thou- was a natural alloy of gold and silver which sands of pounds in the sale rooms, but similar was found locally in the silt of the river which smaller pieces are very much less expensive. ran through the city of Sardis. In this area the main denomination was the The female members of the Pantheon were stater, a silver coin about the size and thick- 2 also popular images on coins. Athena appears ness of a present day one pound coin. regal; Artemis is forceful; Demeter and Everyday business called for small change, so Persephone look graceful. In later times there were also smaller fractional coins which female deities are used to represent the patron eventually became so tiny and inconvenient in goddesses of the towns or cities and some of use that a bronze denomination was intro- Silver coins soon followed and these were also these are very well executed. Many collectors duced. Thus the notion of a token coinage sys- small ingots of bean shape but crudely try to find a coin from each of the cities and, tem came into being and it has been with us stamped with a symbol of the issuing authori- apart from a few rare issues, this is not too dif- ever since. ty, which guaranteed purity and weight. The ficult or expensive an undertaking. 6 well known King Croesus is generally credited with producing the earliest pure gold and sil- Part II of Vince McCarthy’s ‘Collecting ver coinage around the middle of the 6th cen- Greek Coins’ will appear in the tury BC. These bore a stamped heads of a lion November/December edition of Antiques and a bull. Persia soon followed and issued Info. To ensure that you get your copy of The period of Athenian domination was not to similar coins in gold and silver called darics Antiques Info delivered direct to your door last long, and by the middle of the 4th century and sigloi which bore the figure of a kneeling at no extra cost, why not subscribe? See BC, Philip II of Macedon began the conquests archer. This was the beginning of the concept page 93 for details. that were to spread the Macedonian Kingdom of a bi-metallic coinage which has persisted in far and wide. His son and heir, Alexander the one form or another until the present day. The Greeks were great traders and soon Great, continued the expansion eastwards The use of coinage quickly spread westwards extended their influence to the Italian peninsu- through Asia Minor to the Black Sea; and into mainland Greece and the islands of the lar. Cities were founded in many regions; south through the Middle East into Egypt. Aegean Sea, and by the 5th century the Greeks Campania, Apulia, Lucania, Calabria and Wide ranging military adventures tend to cost had defeated the Persians and were now mas- Bruttium became wealthy in the process. They a lot of money and Alexander was fortunate to ters of the eastern Mediterranean world. This were prolific coin issuing areas and as in main- have access to plentiful supplies of silver and period was the high point of Greek art and land Greece each city depicted their individual even gold to pay his armies. The amount of some of the finest coinage in history was pro- symbols on their coinage. So we find Gela coinage he issued was enormous, hence his duced often by leading artists and sculptors, with its River God depicted as a bearded, man- coins are commonly found today. His gold some of which bear the artist’s name. The ear- headed bull and a similar, although less impos- staters are not rare and depict a helmeted bust liest coinage in the so-called archaic style ing, type on coins of Neapolis. of Athena with a winged Victory on the looks rather stiff and formal to our modern reverse, but the vast bulk of his coins consists eyes but has an undeniable strength and digni- 5 of silver tetradrachms and drachms with the ty. All of the city states issued coinage, usual- head of a young Heracles wearing a lion skin ly in silver. The standard was the drachm and headdress. The reverse is a seated figure of a its multiples of two (didrachm) and four muscular Heracles holding an eagle. (tetradrachm). After his death, an extensive posthumous coinage was issued from dozens of different 3 The southern city of Metapontion used a large mints. The portrait of Heracles may have been ear of corn on both sides of its coins, whilst subtly altered to represent Alexander himself Velia used a prowling lion and Rhegion, a giving us a very early coin portrait of a real lion’s mask. One of the longest lived and most person. These coins are of different styles and common types was issued at Taras and depict- bear different symbols and mint marks and are ed a nude boy riding on the back of a lively fairly easy to find and not too expensive so The real delight of Greek coins lies in the dolphin. make a popular collecting theme. designs that were used on them. The various The island of Sicily had a troubled history, badges of the cities are common; the owl of being ruled by Greeks, Carthaginians, and var- 7 Athens, the turtle of Aigina, the Pegasus of ious tyrants before eventually falling to the Corinth, the bee of Ephesus, the shield of Romans. Nevertheless the island produced Thebes, the rose of Rhodes, and many others. some fine coinage. Messana often used a leap- ANTIQUES INFO - September/October 05 On Prices. fairly cheap in the smaller denominations, but nice pieces are not easy Greek coinage covers such a broad and diverse field that anything more to find in today’s market. than a very simple guide to prices is virtually impossible. New collec- The silver coinage of Greek city states ranges from £150 to £600 or so, tors will need to study auction catalogues, dealer’s lists and the Antiques but the smaller denominations can be cheaper, often less than £50. Info website price guides, www.antiques-info.co.uk, for up to date Coins of Alexander the Great are relatively plentiful from £75 for the prices. It is also wise to visit the many coin fairs around the country drachm to around £200 for a decent tetradrachm. A wide range of large looking at coins and chatting to the dealers. and spectacular silver coins from Asia minor is available starting at A few general points might help: Greek gold and electrum can be £150, whereas bronzes can be as low as £20 for a reasonable fine spec- expensive; silver less so, but choice examples are expensive. Bronze is imen, but more for bigger and finer pieces. 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 1. Early silver stater from the time of 13. Rhodes. Silver didrachm with head 25 Croesus. 6th cent BC. £400. of Helios (the Sun God). 26 2. A gold stater of Alexander the Great. 14. Reverse of Rhodes coin. A rose in 336-323 BC. £700. bloom. 4th century BC. £175. 3. Tarentum. Boy on dolphin. 4th century 15. Reverse of Neapolis coin. Man BC. £125. headed bull. £250. 4. The classic Athens ‘owl’. c.450 BC. 16. Neapolis stater. Head of Nymph. £500. c.400 BC. 5. Parion, Mysia. Small silver coin, 17. Syracuse, Sicily. Helmeted bust of Gorgon & bull. 4th cent BC. £95. Athena. 3rd century BC. 6. Sicily, Syracuse. Rare dekadrachm by Euianetos. 400 BC. £10,000. 18. Reverse of Syracuse coin. Winged thunderbolt. £250. 7. A fine portrait of Philip II of Macedon. Father of Alexander the 19. Syracuse. Portrait of Hieronymos. 215-214 BC. Great. Silver stater. 359-336 BC. £600. 20. Reverse of Syracuse coin. Winged thunderbolt. £300. 8. City emblems; the shield of Thebes, turtle of Aigina. 5th cent BC. 21. Metapontum, stater. Demeter. Ear of Barley. c. 350 BC. £200. 9. Reverses of Thebes and Aigina coins. Around £200 - £250. 22. Metapontum. Helmeted head of Leucippos. c. 350 BC.
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