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The three most important standards of the ancient Greek monetary system were the Attic standard, based on the Athenian drachma of 4.3 grams (2.8 pennyweights) of silver, the Corinthian standard based on the stater of 8.6 g (5.5 dwt) of silver, that was subdivided into three silver drachmas of 2.9 g (1.9 dwt), and the Aeginetan stater or didrachm of 12.2 g (7.8 dwt), based on a drachma of 6.1 g ...
Pelanor (Ancient Greek: πέλανορ, lit. 'cakes') [1] was the currency reportedly used in Sparta during the reign of the semi-mythical Lycurgus. [2] According to Plutarch's Life of Lycurgus, [3] not only did Lycurgus ban the use of gold and silver currency in favor of iron, but, just as the iron was red hot, it would be quenched in vinegar, thus rendering the metal unusable for any other ...
Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (SNG) is a project to publish ancient Greek coinage, founded in Great Britain by the British Academy in 1930. It was originally intended to catalogue both public and private Greek coin collections in the UK. It has gradually spread to other countries, and has now published more than 120 volumes.
The drachma was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name obol was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. [2] The notion that drachma derived from the word for fistful was recorded by Herakleides of Pontos (387–312 BC) who was informed by the priests of Heraion that Pheidon , king of Argos ...
A large portion of the collection is constituted by coins that were found in hoards while the rest comes from the initial collection of Aegina, recent excavations in mainland Greece and donations. The museum houses a library of 12,000 books specialized in the study of coinage. There is also a conservation laboratory.
Sparta deliberately used iron currency to make amassing wealth unwieldy, and remained on an iron currency standard all through Greece's golden age. [2] Julius Caesar's Gallic Wars, mentions iron currency in Britain. [3] "For money they use bronze or gold coins, or iron bars of fixed weights." — Julius Caesar, 54 BC [1]
The tetradrachm (Ancient Greek: τετράδραχμον, romanized: tetrádrachmon) was a large silver coin that originated in Ancient Greece. It was nominally equivalent to four drachmae . [ 1 ] Over time the tetradrachm effectively became the standard coin of the Antiquity , spreading well beyond the borders of the Greek World.
While 0.72 grams was the weight of a standard Greek obol, the actual amount of silver that went into making the currency could vary from region to region. Obols in Athens were typically near the 0.72-gram standard, while Corinth was documented having 0.42-gram obols. [17]