Early coins featured geometric designs, but these were soon replaced by iconography representative of each city. The gold stater and silver siglos and their fractions became the first international currency prior to the introduction of the Persian gold daric and silver siglos at the end of the sixth century BC.Īt the same time, to the West, from the Aegean islands to Magna Graecia and Sicily, the Greek city-states began to mint coins. Featuring a lion and bull on the obverse and two punchmarks on the reverse, these Kroiseids, as they were later called, had several denominations. Under Kroisos (561-547 BC) coins in both gold and silver were struck for the first time.

Soon a type was introduced on the other side of the coin by placing the blank on an engraved surface when the punch was applied. While these early coins were little more than ingots, they typically included one or more punchmarks, applied to indicate either the purity or issuing authority. About the same time, cities in Ionia also began to strike electrum coins. The Lydians may have been the first to produce coins by exploiting the naturally-occurring electrum found in the local Paktolos River. During this period the Greeks moved from a currency struck in electrum (an alloy of gold and silver) to a bi-metallic one of silver and gold. The earliest period, the Archaic, covers the time from the introduction of coinage in Asia Minor sometime in the seventh century BC to the end of the Greco-Persian Wars in 479 BC. All ancient coins were struck by hand using a hammer with a die enclosed and striking a blank against an anvil.Ancient Greek coinage can be divided into three periods that generally conform to the traditional periods of Greek art. All Chinese coins of that era were cast and the majority of them were round with a square hole in the center to they could be tied together. The use of coins in China and Asia became popular as early as the 11 th Century BC. Many generals received quantities of coins from their emperor as a reward for gallant service or to be shared with their troops after a victory.īy the 11 th Century, Chinese cast copper coinage was becoming available and popular. They also struck coins to honor their golds, great victories, or battles as well as feasts or other celebrations. Roman emperors took it upon themselves to commemorate their reigns by striking coins throughout the years of power.

A type set of ancient Greek coins comprises many types and includes some beautiful coinage, including the highly popular and symbolic Athenian Owl coinage. The Ancient Greeks raised the striking of coins to a fine art and were very adept at creating images to honor their gods as well as their way of life. The Byzantine Empire closely followed Persia and Byzantine gold coins are, while still of value, are some of the most beautiful and available ancient gold coins. The Daric of Persia was seemingly the very first and most popular early gold coin. Some were struck in bronze, silver, or electrum, which is a mixture of naturally occurring gold and silver. The early ancient coins tended to portray images of Lions heads, horses, or other animals. Coins from ancient India were influenced by Greek coins, Islamic coins, and early Roman coinage. Many other early ancient coins are from Sumer, Lydia, Babylonia, and other places along the Greek coast.Įarly Islamic influences were in coinage of the Seleucids, Parthians, as well as the Sassanians. Many of them feature the temple of Artemis, which is one of thew wonders of the ancient world.

The very first known coins are from Ephesus, a city in Ancient Greece. Ancient coins are those from ancient civilizations.

Electrum coin roman