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Greece - history of currency
Transcript of Greece - history of currency
The History of coins in Greece
Early forms of exchange
Barter trade (exchange of goods) After the invention of scales we have
the need for a handier exchange means in the form of
metal tokens
Talent
• it had the shape of the hide (skin) of an ox
•a plate of metal (copper, silver, gold)
• 1 talent = 25 kgr
• or approximately the mass of water required to fill an amphora
Mna
A talent was divided in mnes (a unit for measuring mass)
1 talent = 60 mnes
1mna = 433gr of gold
Obols
ovolos= spit, iron rod
a metal (iron, silver) coin only it was not round
a palm could hold six obols
Drachma
6 Obols = 1 Drachma
from the Greek verb drattomai (=grab, grip) we get the word drachma
the name of the Greek currency from ancient times till it was replaced by the Euro in 2001
Coins• They appear in the end of the 7th c BC- beginning of the 6th c
BC in Minor Asia• They were made of electron a mixture of gold and silver• They were not absolutely spherical• They had no emblazonment• A hammering proved that they were legal
Staters
Croesus in 560BC, in Minor Asia separates the two minerals and makes golden and silver staters
Some equations• 1 drachma = 1/100 of a mna = 4.3 gr of gold• 1 drc = 6 obols• 2 drc = 1 stater• 100 drc = 1 mna• 600 drc = 1 talent
The first coins in the main Hellenic area
The silver statersin the Island of Aegina
Athens
Next, the Athenians strike coins with various depictions on them but in 510 BC they realize that they need one that will symbolize their city and that everybody would recognize all over the world
the 4 drachmas coin
Macedonia
• Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, in 345 BC cuts golden staters.
• Alexander’s coins became powerful and remained as such for two more centuries after his death
Engraved topics: subjects related to religion, mythology or elements of the natural environment
Rhodes would “play “ with the name and have roses
Metapontium in Magna Graecia had wheat
Selinuntas in Sicily had celery Santorini had dolphins
Knossos the mazeCorinth had Pegasus and the angled
cross, a symbol of good luck.
Coins in Epirus
• Epirus = Άπειρος = Infinite land• Inhabited by greek populations since 2500 BC( Chaonians, Thesprotians, Dryops, Athamans, Molossians)• Introvert, farming societies
Ambracia
The Corinthians formed the colony of Ambracia (the ancient name of Arta) in the 7th and 6th c BC. It developed financially and since the beginning of the 5th c BC it obtained its coin: a silver stater
The Corinthian influence ceases and they issue coins that depict subjects related to their culture. In the middle of 3rd c
we have coins with the head of Dioni, wife of Zeus worshipped in the oracle of Dodoni, and the obelisk of
Apollo, the patron god of Ambracia
King Pyrros, a Molossian king, makes Ambracia his capital in 307 BC
Impressive silver staters
232 BC the Commonwealth of Epirus
National word ΑΠΕΙΡΩΤΑΝ
(= genitive form = of the people of Epirus)
Material basically adapted from the publications of Alpha Bank