Surprisingly Affordable Ancient Greek Coins

If you search online for coins of ancient Greece, you are generally greeted with the gorgeous images of the incredible Deca-Dracons of Syracuse, the marvellous gold staters of Alexander the Great, or maybe the beautiful silver staters of Corinth and the famous Athenian owl. These are among the crown jewels of ancient Greek numismatics, but with crown jewel-level pieces comes price tags only royalty can pay. What if I told you you can absolutely build a fantastic collection of gorgeous pieces with a modest budget? And by modest, I mean really common folk level. Let's have a look. Welcome back. Today, we are going to delve into a niche of Greek numismatics which, in my opinion, is greatly underappreciated. Greek fractional coinage. What does that mean? Well, the smaller coinage everyday people used to pay for lower valued items, such as simple tools, food, and other small purchases in the local marketplaces. Ancient Greeks used mostly silver for their transactions, and at first, smaller transactions were made with ever smaller silver coins, some as small as a tenth of a gram. As a result, fractional coinage tends to be forgotten, with people preferring the larger coins. But these tiny pieces of metal hide some gorgeous art, so let's have a look at some. Here we have an oval. A drachm, the daily wage for a manual laborer, was divided into six ovals. This particular piece comes from the ancient city of Selj, minted between 350 and 300 BC. It is just 11 meters wide, weighing 0.75 grams. This coin can't get any more mythological. On one side, we can see Athena wearing a helmet, and on the other side, a Medusa menacing us by showing her thong. As I've just said, this coin would be a sixth of a laborer's wage, which is still quite a bit of money if you just want to buy some bread. So how about half an oval? Here's a hemi-oval from the city of Aspendos, minted from 420 to 360 BC, a minuscule little thing of just 8 millimeters and half a gram. It really shocks me that someone had engraving tools so precise that they could make such a thing from 25 centuries ago. It features a lion's head on the obverse, and a Medusa again at the reverse. As time progressed, we see denominations smaller than the oval being replaced for bronze coinage. Which was much more practical, since now coins could be a little bit bigger. These would typically have their circulation restricted to the city where they're minted, or maybe a certain region or a kingdom, as they weren't meant for larger international trade. So let's have a look at some bronze examples. Here's a coin minted around the time of Alexander the Great. We can't pinpoint the exact date, because these were minted after Alexander's time as well, but we can estimate they were from the 330s BC. It features a hoplite shield on the obverse, so it would be immediately recognizable for everyone at the time, as they probably saw the vast phalanxes of Alexander armed with thousands of these as they conquered the known world. And the reverse features a Macedonian helmet. There are many varieties on the shield's design, which indicate these were minted all over the Greek world. Next, we go to the city of Ephesus, very famous in numismatics for their iconic coins featuring a bee, paying homage to Artemis, the patron goddess of the city. The city's coinage is abundant, both in bronze and silver, but it is also super popular, which makes silver issues a little bit pricey. Fortunately, we have small bronze coins just like this one, which are very attainable. On one side, we can see a bust of Artemis, and on the other, the classic Ephesus bee. So, if a silver bee sting is too painful on your wallet, a tame bronze bee might as well be your choice. Next, we go to Syracuse, and for Greek coin collectors, this name sounds like heaven, as this city had some of the most talented engravers of the ancient world. A Deca Drachm, engraved by the master Kaimon, similar to this one, sold not long ago for nearly 3 million dollars, but we don't have to spend that kind of money for coins like that, so let's have a look at some alternatives. Here's a bronze piece minted between 282 and 278 BC under the rule of Hicetas II. On the obverse, we have an unusual bust of a young Zeus, and I don't know about you guys, but I love the attention to detail given to even small pocket change like this. I normally draw what's on each side of the coin so you guys can easily understand what's in it, but the engraver did such a great job, I'll just edit that out. The reverse is a bit worn, and it features an eagle over a thunderbolt. As with other coins, what's shown on both sides has a reason to be there. We have three symbols of Zeus crammed into a small coin, a thunderbolt, an eagle, and the most curious, this young Zeus called Zeus Elanios, or Zeus of all Greeks. Syracuse at that time was at the edge of the Greek world, right next to the powerhouse of Carthage, and local administration really wanted to make it clear this was a Greek polis of Hellenic culture, blessed by Greek gods. So how about another piece of Syracuse? Here's a rather chunky coin issued under Hieron II, minted between 275 and 215 BC. Once again, really well accomplished bust of the monarch. He's wearing the typical headband, symbolizing royalty, and the reverse has this very dynamic spearman riding a horse, with Hieron's name on the exerge. Well, in my interpretation, I think that horseman is actually Hieron himself, and we're gonna see why. So notice how this piece bears a very different message compared to the previous one. Even if they were minted at the same century, instead of a protective deity, we have Hieron depicting himself as one of the Hellenistic kings of Greece, and featuring himself as a cavalry commander. Why would that be? So it turns out that at this time, the first Punic war was happening between Rome and Carthage, a major conflict that fought right at Syracuse's doorstep. Hieron had to impose the image of a strong, independent leader, as he was right between the two biggest players in Mediterranean politics. Romans and Carthaginians alike would eventually get their hands on his coinage, and there he would be, like one of the Hellenistic kings of old, showing everyone he was to be taken seriously. And there we have it. As you can see, we don't need to spend a fortune to start a collection of very pretty Greek pieces. They are absolutely full of history, full of art, and a joy to collect. So next time you're looking for a new coin to your collection, how about you give these Greek ones a try?