What was the Athenian Tetradrachm used for?
What was the Athenian Tetradrachm used for?
The Athenian tetradrachme was widely used in transactions throughout the ancient Greek world, including in cities politically unfriendly to Athens. Athens had silver mines in state ownership, which provided the bullion. Most well known were the silver mines of Laurium in Athenian countryside.
What is a tetradrachm coin?
: an ancient Greek silver coin worth four drachmas.
What was a tetradrachm worth?
The coin is a tetradrachm, meaning that it was worth four drachmas; one drachma, in turn, was worth six obols. It is a high value coin representing, in the mid-fifth century BC, four days’ pay for a skilled labourer or for a hoplite soldier, or two days’ pay for a sculptor working on a public building.
How many Tetradrachms are there?
Three Different Types. Archaic Tetradrachm: First there were the so-called “Archaic” tetradrachms.
How is Alexander depicted on the coin?
Alexander, responsible for establishing the conventions of royal portraiture, is depicted in his preferred manner: youthful and clean-shaven, with long locks of hair rising above his forehead and eyes cast upward. Additionally, he is shown with horns curling around his ears.
What could a tetradrachm buy?
An unskilled worker, like someone who unloaded boats or dug ditches in Athens, would be paid about two obols a day. A small silver coin – a drachm was a man’s average daily wage. A large silver coin – a tetradrachm would buy luxuries such as jewellery, horses or weapons. It was worth four times a man’s daily wage.
What is a tetradrachm made of?
Made of gold, silver, bronze, and electrum (a gold-silver alloy), coins were literally worth their weight, but their value varied according to the percentage of their precious metal content. Occasionally a city needed more money than it had in reserves.
Are old Greek coins worth anything?
Today ancient Greek coins are also numismatic coins. This means that they are worth more than the value of their precious metal and are therefore valuable collectibles. Their added value is mainly a result of their ancient history and rarity.
Why is Alexander depicted with horns?
Additionally, he is shown with horns curling around his ears. These “horns of Ammon” symbolize Alexander’s claim that he was the son of the Egyptian god Ammon—a claim reportedly confirmed by the oracle at the sanctuary of Zeus-Ammon at Siwa, Egypt.
Was Alexander the Great on a coin?
Alexander” is inscribed in Greek on the reverse, and is usually accompanied by at least 1 Mint mark. Alexander the Great had these coins struck to a standard all of their own accord. At roughly half the weight of his Silver Tetradrachms, the valuable Gold Staters weighed roughly 8.55g.
What is 1 Roman gold coin worth?
An 8.18-gram Roman gold aureus from the time of Julius Caesar (died 44 BCE) would contain gold worth $330.50. The spot price of silver is $14.22 per Troy ounce.
What is the rarest Greek coin?
Weighing 42.5 grams and reportedly worth $1 million, the coin is known as “Athens Dekadrachm” and there are only 40 of these rare coins in the whole world.
