About this artwork
The use of coins as a form of money was invented in western Asia Minor in the early 7th century BC. At the time when the coins in this case were struck, Greece was made up of separate city-states that issued their own currency. 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. By reducing the amount of precious metal and substituting a base metal, a coin could be produced of the same weight but no longer of the same value. Some currency was only honored within its own city walls, but trustworthy money encouraged trade. Athens had the biggest economy, and its coin became the standard in the Greek world.The population was largely illiterate, but it could identify the place of origin of a coin by its imagery. Many of these images referred to myths that were associated with the history of the community and thus were well known to the populace from religious ceremonies and theatrical entertainment. The story of a city’s founding, a local hero, the city’s guardian deity, and even the reason for the city’s wealth were subjects for a coin’s insignia.
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Status
- Currently Off View
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Department
- Arts of the Ancient Mediterranean and Byzantium
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Artist
- Ancient Greek
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Title
- Coin Depicting the God Apollo
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Place
- Greece (Minted in)
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Date
- 200 BCE–1 BCE
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Medium
- Bronze
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Dimensions
- Diam.: 2.2 cm (7/8 in.)
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Credit Line
- Gift of William F. Dunham
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Reference Number
- 1920.2944
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IIIF Manifest
- https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/199231/manifest.json
Extended information about this artwork
Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email . Information about image downloads and licensing is available here.
