Greek Bronze Coin – Money for Daily Life Who does not know the custom to differentiate between Sunday and working-day dresses? Something
similar exits with money. For example in ancient Greece: The bronze coins were kind of working-day
cash with which one went to the market. The large silver coins, however, were used for more important
business transactions. He who thinks that these were also more beautiful, is mistaken. The small coins
were minted just as carefully as the prestige coinages.
1 von 7 www.sunflower.ch Sarmatia, Olbia, Bronze Dolphin, c. 480 BC Dolphin Coin City of Olbia Olbia -­‐480 4.23 45.0 Bronze Sunflower Foundation Denomination: Mint Authority: Mint: Year of Issue: Weight (g): Diameter (mm): Material: Owner: This small dolphin is an interesting transition between standardized coin and bronze ingot. It weighs
4.23 grams, which corresponded to the coin standard of the Athenian drachm. The inscription on the
reverse, APIXO, gives the name of the issuing authority; it is this declaration that turns the ingot into a
coin.
The dolphin originated from Olbia, an ancient city on the mouth of the River Bug and on the coast of
the Black Sea. Dolphins were very frequent in these waters. They liked to accompany seagoing vessels
over long distances, which is why they became symbols of maritime transportation and trade. The
dolphin coins of Sarmatia expressed this in a very picturesque manner.
2 von 7 www.sunflower.ch Sicily, Acragas, Cast Onkia, c. 450 BC Onkia City of Acragas Acragas (Agrigento) -­‐450 4.56 20.0 Bronze Sunflower Foundation Denomination: Mint Authority: Mint: Year of Issue: Weight (g): Diameter (mm): Material: Owner: The first bronze coins of Sicily were issued in Acragas. Initially they were not minted but cast, and did
not yet have the typical round coin shape. The smallest denomination took an oval form, while the
larger units were cone-shaped. It is not entirely clear whether the cast Acragas items were indeed
circulating coins, or were rather used as weights. This specimen is an onkia, the twelfth part of a whole.
The onkia was a weight standard as well as a coin unit.
3 von 7 www.sunflower.ch Sicily, Leontinoi, Tetras (1/4 Litra), 405-­‐402 BC Tetras (1/4 Litra) City of Leontinoi Leontinoi (Lentini) -­‐405 2.02 14.0 Bronze Sunflower Foundation Denomination: Mint Authority: Mint: Year of Issue: Weight (g): Diameter (mm): Material: Owner: The tetras was a small Italic-Sicilian minor coin worth 1/4 of a litra. The value was indicated by three
pellets on the reverse – for 1 litra equaled 12 onkiae, and a tetras thus held 3 onkiae.
Our litra bears the head of the god Apollo wearing a laurel wreath on the obverse. The reverse shows a
tripod with three handles, and a lyre between the tripods legs. On each side a barleycorn is depicted;
beneath are the three pellets of value.
4 von 7 www.sunflower.ch Sicily, Himera, Hemilitra (1/2 Litra), c. 400 BC Hemilitra (1/2 Litra) City of Himera Himera -­‐400 1.6 13.0 Bronze Sunflower Foundation Denomination: Mint Authority: Mint: Year of Issue: Weight (g): Diameter (mm): Material: Owner: The obverse of the coin depicts the head of the nymph Himera, while the reverse shows a prawn. The
six pellets on the reverse indicate the coin's value. At that time, the Himerans calculated in the
duodecimal system: twelve onkiae equaled a litra, a very popular small silver coin. Our coin was worth
six onkiae, half a litra thus, and was therefore called hemilitra.
5 von 7 www.sunflower.ch Bosporan Kingdom, Undefined Ruler, Bronze Unit (AE), 4th Century BC, Panticapaeum AE (Bronze Unit) Bosporan Kingdom Panticapaeum (Kerch) -­‐400 7.03 22.0 Bronze Sunflower Foundation Denomination: Mint Authority: Mint: Year of Issue: Weight (g): Diameter (mm): Material: Owner: The city of Panticapaeum, founded around the mid-6th century BC on the strait between the Black See
and the Sea of Azov, controlled the narrow passage between the two waters and thus soon became the
most important port for trade between the Crimean and south Russia and the Aegean.
Coins had been minted in Panticapaeum already in the 5th century. They are evidence of the city's
economic prosperity, especially since the 4th century. This little bronze coin depicts on the obverse the
head of Pan, punning on the city's name. The griffin on the reverse is the fabulous monster that was
reputed to guard the sources of gold in the distant Ural or Altai Mountains.
6 von 7 www.sunflower.ch Persian Empire, Satrapy of Lydia and Ionia, Spithridates († c. 334 BC), Small Bronze Coin, Kyme Denomination: Mint Authority: Mint: Year of Issue: Weight (g): Diameter (mm): Material: Owner: Small Bronze Satrap Spithridates Undefined -­‐340 1.49 11.0 Bronze Sunflower Foundation This small bronze is an issue of Spithridates, the satrap of Lydia and Ionia. Spithridates had himself
portrayed by a Greek engraver; we make out his tiara, a typical Persian headgear resembling a bag from
leather, of which the upper part was folded upward. The reverse of the coin depicts the prosoma of a
horse and a monogram.
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