European Greek Coins For Sale
The Greek islands of Cyprus and Crete during the 16th - 10th centuries BC were international trading ports where Assyrians, Mesopotamians and Egyptians met to trade their goods. As each territory had its own currency (Egypt traded in gold; Greece in silver and copper), it became necessary to find a monetary common denominator on which to base trade.
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| Italy
Numerous Greek colonies were established in southern Italy in the centuries preceding the introduction of coinage, the earliest foundations dating from the 8th century BC.
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| Sicily
The first Greek colony planted on Sicilian soil was Naxos, founded by Chalkidians from Euboia circa 734 BC. The coinage commences in the later part of the 6th century BC, emanating from mints such as Naxos, Zankle, Himera, Selinus and Akragas.
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| Illyria and Central Greece
This area comprised fourteen districts arranged in the following approximate geographical sequence: Illyria; Epeiros; Corcyra; Thessaley; Akarnania; Aitolia; Lokris; Phokis; Boeotia; Euboia; Attica; Megaris; Aigina; Corinthia.
| | Histiaia 'Seated Nymph' Tetrobol 003380 | Histiaia 'Seated Nymph' Tetrobol Silver, 2.07 grams, 14.28 mm. Circa 340 - 330 B.C. Obverse: Head of nymph Histiaia right with hair in sphendome. Reverse: IETIAIEON, Nymph Histiaia seated right on stern of galley, ornamented with wing, holding naval standard. GCV 2495. Good very fine. | £140.00  |  |
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| | Attica, Athens
After the Persian defeat and withdrawal in 479 BC, Athens was mistress of the Aegean World and became a great cultural and political centre. The long Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BC, drained Athens of her wealth and ended with the capture of the city by the Spartans. Although prosperous again in the 4th century, Athens never fully regained her importance.
| | Athens Civic Coinage 'Athena and Owl' Tetradrachm 022704 | Athens Civic Coinage 'Athena and Owl' Tetradrachm Silver, 17.00 grams, 23.77 mm. Athens. After 449 BC. Obverse: no legend, helmeted head of Athena right, (eye not in profile) in crested Attic helmet decorated with three olive leaves over visor. Reverse: AQH, to right of owl standing right, head facing, olive sprig and crescent at upper left. Sear Greek 2526; SNG Copenhagen 31. Good very fine. | £600.00 |  |
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| | Corinthia, Corinth
Corinth was occupied by Ptolemy I of Egypt from 308-306 BC, and her silver coinage ceased soon after. She joined the Achaean League in the 3rd century, but later opposed Rome and was utterly destroyed by the consul L. Mummius in 146 BC.
| | Corinthian 'Athena and Pegasus' AR Stater 021225 | Excessively Rare [Unpublished] Corinthian 'Athena and Pegasus' AR Stater Silver, 8.55 grams, 21.33 mm. Corinth. 400-338 BC. Obverse: no legend, Pegasus, with pointed wing, flying left; koppa below. Reverse: no legend, head of Athena right, wearing Corinthian helmet without crest, over leather cap; no symbols in field. cf Sear 2625-2626 (symbol, Athena head left). Slightly off-struck, otherwise extremely fine. There are no coins listed in BMC, Cop, Ravel, Sear etc with Pegasus with the pointed wing and koppa below flying left AND Athena head right but without any other symbols anywhere. The head right type should have Pegasus either with a curled wing or standing left. The Pegasus flying left type with koppa below should have Athena's head left OR right but with a noticeable symbol in the right field. We have checked every listed Corinth coin (the Koppa is a sign of Corinth) as well as all the other mints in the provinces of Corinth but have not found it. The closest is e.g. BMC 241 which has this obverse and reverse but should have an A and Lambda and a trident all in the right field of the Athena side. | £550.00 |  |
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| | Lucania
Lucania, an ancient district of southern Italy, extended from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia; to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium. It thus comprised almost all the modern province of the Basilicata, with the greater part of the province of Salerno and a portion of that of Cosenza. The precise limits were the river Silarus on the north-west, which separated it from Campania, and the Bradanus, which flows into the Gulf of Tarentum, on the north-east; while the two little rivers Laus and Crathis, flowing from the ridge of the Apennines to the sea on the west and east, marked the limits of the district on the side of the Bruttii.
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| | Kingdom of Thrace | | | Brutus 'Caesar's Assassin' Stater 021706 | Brutus 'Caesar's Assassin' Stater Gold, 8.46 grams, 18.88 mm. Koson, Thrace. Mid 1st century BC. Obverse: KOSWN (in exergue), Roman consul, Brutus, in center, standing left, accompanied by two lictors, each with sceptres or baton over shoulder. Reverse: no legend, eagle standing left on sceptre, wings open, raising wreath in left foot. RPC 1701; BMC Thrace 2; BMCRR 48; Crawford 433/1; Sear Greek 1733. Extremely fine, as struck. | £1,450.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021346 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.81 grams, 13.43 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). Good very fine/very fine. | £110.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021345 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.84 grams, 13.95 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). Good fine. | £65.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021344 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.83 grams, 14.02 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). About good very fine. | £120.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021342 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.82 grams, 13.87 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). Very fine-good very fine. | £110.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021341 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.86 grams, 13.51 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). Good very fine. | £110.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021340 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.86 grams, 14.04 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). Good very fine/extremely fine. | £110.00 |  |
| | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm 021339 | City Coinage 'Gorgoneion and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 2.84 grams, 12.83 mm. Apollonia Pontika, Thrace. Circa 450 BC. Obverse: no legend, facing gorgoneion with a row of curls along forehead and protruding tongue. Reverse: no legend, anchor, A to left, crayfish to right. BMC 160; cf Sear Greek 1654-1655 (Gorgoneion type). Extremely fine. | £145.00 |  |
| | Thrace 'Gorgon and Anchor' Drachm 019664 | Thrace 'Gorgon and Anchor' Drachm Silver, 3.10 grams, 9.34 mm. Apollonia Pontica. Circa 450-400 BC. Obverse: no legend, upturned anchor, crayfish to left, A to right. Reverse: no legend, head of Gorgon facing. SNG BM Black Sea 153: SNG Berry 391; Sear 1655. Very fine. | £90.00 |  |
| | Thrace 012133 | Thrace 'Lion Facing' Hemidrachm Silver, 3.67 grams; 13.09 mm. Pantikapaion in Thrace. Circa 450-350 BC. Obverse: Lion's head facing. Reverse: APOL, in the quarters of a quadripartite incuse square. SNG BMC Black Sea 844ff; SNG Stancomb 524ff. Fair/good fine. | £45.00 |  |
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Islands of The Thracian Sea, Olbia
Olbia is very ancient and was possibly founded by the Greeks, according to a local legend. It contains ruins dating from prehistoric times (Phoenician settlement) to the Roman Era, when it was an important port. During the Middle Ages it was the capital of the Giudicato of Gallura, one of the four independent states of Sardinia. Olbia was situated close to the mouths of the Hypanis and Borysthenes rivers, in an ideal trading position - hence its prosperity in Hellenistic times.
| | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money 018677O | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money Bronze, 1.72 grams, 23.57 mm. Circa 3rd - 1st Century BC. Cast bronze in the form of a dolphin. GCV 1684 (British Museum) books at £200 in very fine. Tail lost in antiquity otherwise fine condition on a hard to acquire issue. | £35.00 |  |
| | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money 018677N | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money Bronze, 0.77 grams, 19.11 mm. Circa 3rd - 1st Century BC. Cast bronze in the form of a dolphin. GCV 1684 (British Museum) books at £200 in very fine. Tail lost in antiquity otherwise very fine condition on a hard to acquire issue. | £55.00 |  |
| | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money 018677H | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money Bronze, 0.78 grams, 19.12 mm. Circa 3rd - 1st Century BC. Cast bronze in the form of a dolphin. GCV 1684 (British Museum) books at £200 in very fine. Tail lost in antiquity otherwise fine condition on a hard to acquire issue. | £45.00 |  |
| | Olbian 'Dolphin' Money 018677E | Extremely Rare Olbian 'Dolphin' Money Bronze, 1.57 grams, 22.55 mm. Circa 3rd - 1st Century BC. Cast bronze in the form of a dolphin. GCV 1684 (British Museum) books at £200 in very fine. Tail lost in antiquity otherwise very fine condition with extremely rare inset eye. | £120.00 |  |
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| | Thasos
After 148 BC, following the defeat of Andriscus and the organization of Macedonia into a Roman province, output of the great silver mines was sent to the Thracian mints of Maroneia and Thasos for conversion to coinage.
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| Greek Coin Book and Other References: Mionnet = Mionnet, Theodore Edme Description De Medailles Antiques, Grecques Et Romaines Imhoof = Imhoof-Blumer, von F Kleinasiatische Münzen RecGen = Waddington, William Henry Recueil General des Monnaies Greques d'Asie Mineure BMC = British Museum Catalogues SNG = Volumes of the worldwide SNG project Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum, Moushmov = Moushmov, Nikola Ancient Coins of the Balkan Peninsula GIC = Sear, David R Greek Imperial Coins & Their Values RPC = Reinach & Hill Roman Provincial Coinage Varbanov = Varbanov, Ian Greek Imperial Coins, Vols. 1-3 MacDonald = University of Glasgow Catalogue of Greek Coins in the Hunterian Collection WW = Wildwinds.com (reference & attribution site)
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