CLA260H1 Lecture Notes - Ancient Greek Coinage, Denarius, Greek Drachma
Document Summary
In this session and the next we shall look at greek and roman coins. In the textbook see, obviously, chapter 16 on numismatics". To the bibliography there you should now add w. e. metcalf ed. Under handbooks" you may also find p. grierson, numismatics (1975) a useful introduction to the subject in general, though it is dated in certain respects. Howgego is fundamental; but there is also useful material in m. crawford, Numismatics in his sources for ancient history (cambridge 1983) and: burnett, coins (london, 1991). Greek coinage systems: greek cities commonly use coinage systems which are based on the drachma and the obol weights and multiples and fractions of both. In some cities the basic unit is the stater. The weight of a stater varied from city to city but it was usually in the 8g to 15g range; it was often divided into two, three or four drachmas.