Timeline of Ancient Gre k Coins and Events

Timeline of Ancient Greek Coins and Events

Historical Events and Eras Numismatic Events
Archaic Period (prior to 500 BC)

2200 BC Earliest palaces of the

Minoan civilization on
Crete

1400 BC Earliest Mycenaean

palaces

12th C. BC Trojan War, depicted in

Homer’s Iliad

1200-900 Destruction of Mycenean

BC civilization; the Dark Ages

900-800 BC Population and agriculture

begin to revive; iron used
for tools and weapons

776 BC First Olympic Games

c. 750 BC Greek city-states begin to

form

750-550 BC Greek colonies form all Colonies become future sites of

around the Mediterranean: diverse coinages, each with its
Western Turkey, North own “tipos” or design-type
Africa, Italy and Sicily

Late 7th C. First coins struck in electrum,

BC (Perhaps probably in Lydia (west coast of
650-625) Turkey), from Temple of Artemis
at Ephesos: striations, lion’s
head, cocks

By Early 6th Diverse early electrum coinages

C. BC established in Asia Minor, from
Cyzicus (Sea of Marmara) in the
north to Halicarnassus in the
south

560-546 BC Reign of King Croesus of Croesus abandons electrum in

Lydia (“rich as Croesus”) favor of bimetallic coinage of
gold and silver, with head of lion
 confronting bull (siglos, double-
siglos), with gold:silver ratio of
1:13 1/3.

First silver staters (“Turtles”)

575-550 BC
minted on island of Aegina,
Europe’s first mint, replacing
currency of obelos (iron spits) and
drax (a handful of six obelos),
from which the terms “obol” and
“drachma” are derived.

Silver coinages appear at Athens

(Gorgons, amphora, wheels, etc.;
the “Wappenmünzen,” literally,
“heraldic coins”), Corinth
(Pegasus), and other island and
mainland city-states

At Athens, evolution towards

double-sided coins

546 BC Oracle of Delphi tells In Lydia, Persians continue

Croesus: “If you make war minting coins with lion and bull
on the Persians, you will for about 30 years after Croesus’
destroy a mighty empire.” defeat
Croesus attacks the
Persians and his empire Electrum continues in use in the
falls. Eastern coast of north, at Mytilene, Phocaea,
Mediterranean now Lampsacus and Cysicus.
controlled by Persians.

530 BC Pythagoras migrates from “Incuse” coinages appear in city-

island of Samos to states of Magna Graecia: Sybaris,
Southern Italy. Metapontion, Kroton, Kaulonia,
Poseidonia)
521-485 BC Reign of Persian King Gold “Daric” with running archer
Darius I first minted by 500 BC, replacing
Croesus coinage with lion and
bull, circulating only in Western
Anatolia where coinage was well
established among the Greeks and
their neighbors

Last quarter Rule of Solon, Peisistratos, Athens strikes its first “Owls.”
of 6th C. BC or perhaps just after Double-sided coin with god and
contrasting reverse become the
basis for Greek coins and
European coin-making tradition.
Coinages appear throughout the
Greek world, including Sicily and
Cyrene in Northern Africa. The
largest (after Aegina, Athens and
Corinth) include Thasos, Thebes,
Macedonia

510 BC Kroton destroys Sybaris Sybaris’ coinage ends

508-500 BC Democracy is created in

 Athens, under Cleisthenes
Classical Period (C. 500 – 323 BC)
490 BC Vastly outnumbered,
Athens defeats the Persians
and Darius I at the Battle
of Marathon

483 BC Athens discovers large Minting of Athens “Owls”

silver deposits at the increases with virtually
Laurion mine in Attica. inexhaustible supply of silver
Themistokles convinces from Laurion mines
Athenians to build navy
instead of sharing profits of
mines among the citizens.

480 BC Massive Persian invasion Addition of olive leaves to helmet

of Greece under Xerxes. of Athena and waning moon to
Battle of Thermopylae the reverse, beside owl, of the
(“300”) and Athens’ naval Athenian tetradrachm
defeat of the Persians at
Salamis

479 BC Greek forces, under the Tyrant Anaxilas introduces

Spartan Pausanias, defeat coinage of mule-car and hare at
the Persians at Plataea, and Messana (Sicily)
the Greek fleet defeats the
Persian navy at Mycale in
Ionia.

477 BC Athens takes leadership of

Delian League, alliance of
Greek city-states in
Northern Greece, Aegean Classical realism replaces archaic
islands, and Anatolia art on coinages throughout Greek
against Persia; tributes world
from League members and
spoils from Persian
outposts enrich Athens.
Meanwhile, Sparta leads
independent city states of
Peloponnese in
Peloponnesian League

450s BC Pericles supports

aggressive policy against
Sparta; hostilities between
 Athens and Sparta

458 BC Aeschylus’ tragic trilogy

(Agamemnon, Libation
Bearers, Eumenides)
produced at Athens

447-432 BC Construction of Parthenon

on the Acropolis of Athens

Coinage of Thurii begins

441 BC Protagoras makes laws for
new colony of Athenians
and others at Thurii, near
site of Sybaris in Southern
Italy

c. 441 BC Sophocles’ tragedy

Antigone at Athens

431 BC Euripides’ tragedy Medea

at Athens; Peloponnesian
war between Athens and
Sparta begins

c. 425 BC Athens impose its coinage Cessation of silver coinages at

of Owls on other city-states many Greek city-states under
via the Coinage Decree Athen’s domination

415 BC Athens’ ill-fated expedition

against Syracuse

411 BC Aristophanes anti-war

comedy The Lysistrata
produced at Athens

410-400 BC Carthaginian invasions of

Sicily; Himera and Silenus
destroyed in 409 BC,
Akagras and Gela in 406-
 405 BC
Apex of numismatic art in
Syracuse, with dies signed by
Kimon and other artists; end of
coinages in conquered city-states
of Sicily

407 BC Three cities of island of Prolific Rhodian coinage with

Rhodes form federal sun-god Helios / Rose begins.
capital city of Rhodes
Athens strikes emergency gold
406 BC coinage from statues of Nike in
the Parthenon in effort to build
new fleet

Revival of coining in many parts

404 BC Athens surrenders to of the Aegean after fall of Athens
Spartan army under general and removal of its restrictive
Lysander policies

399 BC Trial and execution of

Socrates at Athens

359-336 BC Reign of Philip II of Macedonian coins rival Athens

Macedon; defeats alliance for dominance in Greek world;
of Greek city-states at gold “Philipi” staters on Attic
Chaeronea in 338 BC; weight system, silver stater on
assassinated in 336 BC local Macedonian standard;
Carthage begins to strike coins
modeled on Macedonian coinage
to pay mercenaries in Sicily
 Coinage begins in Carthage

361-334 BC Persian Satrap Mazaios

reign in Tarsos

Mazaios stater with Ba’altars on

throne to become model for
Alexander the Great’s coinage

348 BC Philip II captures and

destroys Olynthos

336-323 BC Reign of Alexander III

(“The Great”), son of Olynthos coinage ends
Philip II

Alexander the Great introduces

uniform coinage of silver
tetradrachms and gold staters,
both on Attic system, throughout
his empire, converting mints in
conquered territories and using
gold and silver bouillon from
captured Persian treasuries

Hellenistic Period (Death of Alexander III in 323 BC to Roman Conquest)

323 BC Alexander dies suddenly in Diadochi continue Alexander’s
 Babylon; his former empire coinage
divided among the
“diadochi” (inheritors), but
two decades of conflict
(the “Wars of the
Diadochi”) follow

318-315 BC Ptolemy I mints tetradrachm with

diademed head of Alexander
wearing elephant’s headdress;
apparently first example of human
head on coin

305 BC Seleucus gives part of

Afghanistan to Indian king
Chandragupta, gets war
elephants in return

301 BC Battle of Ipsus; Antigonus Demetrius Poliorcetes, son of

defeated; Alexander’s Antigonus, begins issuing his own
former kingdom ends up tetradrachms with Nike on ship’s
divided among: Ptolemy I prow / Poseidon
“Soter” (Savior; Egypt);
Seleucus I “Nicator”
(Victor; Syria and points
East); Lysimachus
(Thrace); Cassander
(Macedonia); and a few
minor kingdoms (Crete,
Rhodes, Epirus in the
Western Pelopponese).

300 BC Ptolemy I issues a new

tetradrachm with his own head /
eagle on thunderbolt. Apparently
first example of living ruler’s
portrait on a coin; first in long
series of Ptolemic portrait coins

297 BC Lysimachus introduces coinage

with head of deified Alexander
and ram’s horn / Athena with
shield
295 BC Seleucus I moves capital
from Babylon to Seleucia Seleucus begins minting own
(Syria) coinage with Zeus / Quadriga of
elephants

281 BC Battle at Corupedion in Antiochus I, son of Seleucus,

Lydia ends wars of the strikes coin with his own portrait /
diadochi; descendents of Apollo seated on omphalos, first
Ptolemy, Seleucus and in long line of Seleucid portrait
Antigonus chief claimants coins
to power in Hellenistic Age

261-246 BC Bactrian kingdom breaks

away from Seleucid empire

212 BC Sicily falls to Rome Coinage of Syracuse ends

200-160 BC Apex of Bactrian portrait coins

196 BC Roman conquerer After brief issue of Macedonian

Flamininus defeats Philip coins under Roman rule, Roman
V at Kynoskephalai, coinage takes over
proclaims freedom of
Greeks at Corinth
162 BC
Seleucid portrait coinage in Syria
30 BC Egypt is last Hellenistic comes to end
kingdom to be absorbed by
Rome Roman coins replace Greek ones
throughout the Mediterranean