Ancient Coins

My last post, 5 years ago, was about my blogging about coins on Google Buzz.   That service has since closed down, so I'll start here.

Where better to start with ancient coins than a classical Owl of Athens?

This is a tetradrachm (4 drachmae) of about 17g (this particular coin weighs 17.18g and is 23mm in diameter).

This coin was minted in Athens between 454 and 404 BC.   The obverse features Athena, the reverse, the owl, mascot of Athena, an olive sprig and a crescent moon.   It's thought that the moon refers to the Battle of Marathon - the great Athenian victory over the Persians in 490 BC.   Tetradrachms minted before the battle didn't feature the crescent.   The battle began during this phase of the moon - the Athenians requested reinforcements from Sparta but the Spartans delayed for the full moon and arrived after the Athenian victory.   The olive sprig probably refers to Athena's gift of the olive tree to Athens.

Tetradrachms like this were minted in large quantities over centuries, with design changes along the way, and circulated far and wide in the ancient world as a trusted means of exchange.   They remain common today.

In today's Europe, the international currency is the Euro and it's appropriate that the current 1 Euro coins of Greece use as their reverse the owl.

The introduction of the Euro marked the end of 2500 years of the drachma; at least the design has survived :)