![]() Gold stater (370-350 BC) of Panticapaeum depicting a griffon standing on an ear of wheat. ![]() These staters were important for conducting trade with Corinthian colonies in Sicily and along the Adriatic coast. Silver stater (415-387 BC) of Corinth depicting the winged horse Pegasus. Aeginetan “turtles” became the dominant trade coins in southern Greece and the islands in the 6th and early 5th centuries BC. Silver stater (550-465 BC) of the island city of Aegina depicting a turtle. The designs were often deliberately simple and conservative so that users all over the Greek world and beyond would recognize them immediately. The coins were usually made of pure silver according to a weight standard. Large silver or gold coins were used in long-distance trade, where they provided a convenient way of paying for expensive or large quantities of goods. Lydian electrum 1/3 stater (mid 7th century BC) depicting a lion’s head, the badge of Lydian kings. Soon afterwards, cities and rulers all over the Mediterranean world adopted coins for long-distance trade and local commerce.Įlectrum 1/6 stater (7th century BC) struck with two square punches. In the 6th century, Croesus, king of Lydia, began to strike coins of solid gold and silver. The first coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that occurred naturally in local rivers. The engravers that created the dies for coins were sometimes outstanding artists, whose work survives in the miniature pieces of art. ![]() Many of the design features of coins, such as portraits or certain emblems, were first used on Greek coins. The design of Greek coins is important for the understanding of world coins of all periods. But despite a fairly well-developed coinage system, it is likely that most people in the ancient world, who lived in a largely agrarian society, did not use coins on a daily basis. Coins allowed people to facilitate long-distance trade and daily transactions, or simply to hoard savings. In order to allow for smaller transactions, many Greek cities began to mint low-value bronze coins. Due to the influence of Greek cities, coinage became a popular form of money that spread rapidly over the entire Mediterranean world and beyond.įor the first 300 years, coins were struck predominantly in silver, and the value of a coin was closely tied to its weight as bullion. For centuries before this, people had been using cut-up silver bullion to conduct transactions, a practice that continued alongside bartering for many centuries. The new coins offered a convenient way to pay with pre-weighed pieces of metal, which were guaranteed by an authority. The first coins were struck in 7th-century Lydia in Western Turkey. Ancient Greece and the Mediterranean World Exhibitions Home Return to Drachmas, Dubloons, and Dollars homepage
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