Lucania, Drachm, ca. 550-510 BC

The Archaic period of Ancient Greece followed the Dark Ages. The date often selected to mark its start is that of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC. It came to an end with the Greco-Persian Wars three centuries later.

It was a period of founding with the political structuring of the Greek city-states (poleis) and their agoras (central public spaces). This period was also characterized by the colonization of vast territories, notably around the Mediterranean Basin and along the shores of the Black Sea. It was the age of authors such as Homer and Hesiod, Thaletas, and the appearance of city-founding heroes. It was also the beginning of the era of trading posts, the Greek alphabet, the birth of democracy in Athens, the first written legal texts, and, of course, currency.

Currency

If there is ONE important period to which numismatics can trace its origins and coinage its crucible, it is the Archaic period. Indeed, over the course of three centuries, a variety of means employed for commercial transactions were to emerge alongside each other and gradually evolve before developing into fully-fledged currency as we know it.

First, came bartering. Then, arriving from Mesopotamia via the Phoenician trade routes, the use of “hacksilver”, fragments of cut and bent silver items of various origins, including jewels and objects, the weight and purity of which were difficult to assess. To facilitate its use, sealed bags were eventually created, with the weight and purity of the metal verified beforehand.

And, logically, coins followed.

They probably originated around 640 BC in Lydia, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Initially made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, they were standardized and assigned denominations. At first, the use of coins as currency remained local and not very practical for small, everyday purchases. The smallest denomination, 1/96th of a stater, was equivalent to 2 days’ wages. Gradually, the gold content of the alloy became poorer, and eventually a bimetallic system with gold and silver evolved. It was probably at this point, when silver coins began to be issued and finally enabled small purchases, that its use began to spread and take off in the Greek world, to the detriment of hacksilver.

The types were manifold, and so were the standards. At first, issuers were probably not all states or cities, but also wealthy individuals. In terms of style, however, there are a few similarities, often with animals on the obverse and a hallmark with incuse strike on the reverse.

By around 500 BC, it appears that issues had become somewhat regulated, now being reserved for state entities. In the southern Aegean, we note in particular the emergence, towards the end of the 6th century, of coins minted on the island of Aegina with its turtle on the obverse and those of Corinth featuring Pegasus. Then came Athens, which, after a few sporadic types, issued its famous owl in parallel to a nascent democracy, laying the foundations for a currency using community and civic semiotics that endures to this day.

From this period, therefore, we must remember the laying of essential foundations, but also the diversity and lack of uniqueness of monetary usage, which would only come a little later. As with everything else in Ancient Greece, Chaos came before order.