Ancient Greek coins

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The first metal money in antiquity was made around 2000 BC. Used in the Mediterranean . These were miniature pets made of bronze . The fact that metal money spread very quickly in the following period is mainly due to the fact that the barter transactions that had been carried out up to that point were only very imprecise and, above all, inviting deception. Coins, on the other hand, made trading much easier. They had the advantage of always being the same size, weight and appearance and being able to be counted instead of weighed.

Lydian stater, 6th century BC Chr.

The first coins were made by the Lydians in the west of what is now Turkey between 650 and approx. 620 BC. Issued as currency and struck from electron under King Alyattes II . These were lump-shaped, natural electron nuggets that bore the royal seal . Pictorial representations on coins came around 620 BC. Chr. On. This was followed by coins in gold of various sizes and values ​​to make it easier for mercenaries to pay . For this purpose, gold dust of a certain amount was fused into coins and provided with an embossed image of the king. The last Lydian king, Croesus , gained the reputation of being immeasurably rich.

Drachm from Aegina, after 404 BC Chr.

The first silver coins were made around 550 BC. In Asia Minor and on the island of Aigina . They bore the image of a lion or bull protome (Asia Minor); A sea turtle was depicted on the coins of the Greek island of Aigina. Shortly afterwards, Athens and Corinth also minted coins.

For a long time the coins from Aegina (called “turtles”) as well as those from Corinth (“foals”) and Athens (“owls”) remained the dominant means of payment in early Greece . Coins were also minted in many Greek colonies. Syracuse in Sicily had the most distinctive coin culture outside of the Greek mother country. Until around 400 BC BC the coin prevailed against barter throughout Greece. However, there was no uniform Greek coin system, but several regions, each of which was dominated by a coin family. Slowly, however, the 17 gram Attic tetradrachm with its subdivisions (stater, dragon, diobolus, trihemiobolos, obolus , hemiobolos, tetartemorion) and larger units of ten or twelve drachms built a dominant position. Until 400 BC The craftsmanship of the representations on the coins also increased, although images of gods and sacred animals continued to be the dominant motifs. The still primitive minting methods with hammer blows on an anvil meant that many coins of this time were only incompletely minted and had cracked edges.

The representation of rulers on coins only prevailed in Greece and in the Diadochian empires after Alexander the Great . Silver remained the dominant raw material until the smaller silver coins were replaced by bronze coins. These are the first divisional coins . Under Roman rule, the Greek cities were only allowed to mint coins made of copper or bronze . City views, mythological motifs or depictions by artists and scholars were the rule. Silver coins were put into circulation by the Roman occupying forces.

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