Ancient coins

Greece has produced some of the most beautiful coins the world has ever known. Early Greek coins are very crude with punched designs of animals and other objects. Over time Greek coins became more sophisticated and complex.

Greek coins can be divided into three periods, the Archaic, the Classical, and the Hellenistic. The Archaic period extends from the introduction of coinage to the Greek world in about 600 BCE until the Persian Wars in about 480 BCE. The Classical period then began, and lasted until the conquests of Alexander the Great in about 330 BCE, which began the Hellenistic period, extending until the Roman absorption of the Greek world in the 1st century BCE.

Between 500 B.C and 400 B.C the Greeks at Athens issued large silver coins called tetradrachms with the bug-eyed owl on one side. A common hallmark of Athenian coins. The owl was the symbol of the goddess Athena who considered the bird sacred. The ultimate Greek coin to be minted was the decadrachm. The decadrachm was a large silver coin from Syracuse in Greece and is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world

A drachm or drachma coin was and still is today the basic unit of Greek money. A tetradrachm equals four drachma and a decadrachm equals ten drachma.

4 Drachm/Drachma = 1 Tetradrachm, 8 Drachm/Drachma = 1 Decadrachm

Unlike ancient Roman Coins, ancient Greek coins rarely contain the portrait of leaders during their time, particularly the earlier Greek coins. Instead many Greek coins contain images of Gods or plants or animals. Even Alexander the Great’s image did not appear on coins made during his rule. It was only after his death when he was elevated to the position of a God that his image can be seen on Greek coins.

Greek coins made in the later periods of Greek civilization contain lower amounts of precious metals. As Greece declined so did their coins and silver painted coins made out of bronze became more pre prevalent.

Buying Greek Coins

If you choose to buy Greek coins you will come up against a number of challenges. There are some things to consider:

• There are usually no dates or mint marks on Greek coins making them harder to identify
• There are no set schemes or patterns to collect when collecting Greek coins.
• Greek coins are rarer and therefore usually cost more

When collecting Ancient Greek coins some interesting categories to consider would be:

• Greek coins with portraits on the obverse
• Gold and electrum Greek coinage (expensive)
• Archaic period (the oldest Greek coins)
• Bronze coinage
• Greek coins originating from a certain city or region

Ancient Greek Coins for Sale on eBay: