DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49262#0060
40 GREEK AND ROMAN COINS [bk. i
smaller coins of 5-461 g. The latter are explained as being
halves of the Roman aureus of 10-912 g.
The so-called ‘medallions of Asia Minor,’ struck under the
early Empire (Pl. XII. 8) down to the time of Hadrian, were
a continuation of the cistophori, and equivalent to three
Roman denarii (normal 11-70 g. down to the time of Nero,
thenceforward 10-23 g·)·
§ 6. Local Standards of European Greece.
The most important city inhabited by Greeks in the Crimean
district (Panticapaeum) struck gold staters of 9 072 g. (Pl. V. 4).
This high standard was probably due to the cheapness of gold
in this district, through which would pass great quantities of
the metal from the gold-bearing regions of Central Asia
In Greece proper, the Victoriate standard, which is of Italian
origin, and will be discussed below, is found in Northern
Greece after the ‘ liberation ’ by Flamininus in 196 b.c.
The most important state on the east coast of the Adriatic
in early times was Corcyra, which employed a light form of the
Aeginetic standard (stater from 11-87 to n-oi g., Pl. II. 7).
In the course of two and a half centuries the weight declined,
so that by the end of the fourth century b. c. the stater weighed
as little as 10-36 g. The drachm of about 5-18 g. could now
be regarded as a didrachm of the Corinthian standard. The
Corcyraean standard, used in various neighbouring places, such
as Apollonia and Dyrrhachium, down to the fourth century,
was finally ousted by its powerful rival, the Corinthian. But
before this it had made its way across the Adriatic, and estab-
lished itself as one of the two standards in use in Etruria.
The origin of the Attic standard has already been explained.
The history of the Athenian coinage, however, contains one
episode of great interest and historical importance. Before the
time of Solon’s introduction of the Attic standard a weight-
standard known as the Pheidonian, from its founder Pheidon,
king of Argos (see above, p. 6), was in use at Athens.
Solon introduced a new and heavier system, in which the
drachm weighed of the Pheidonian mina. The resultant
stater (or didrachm) of this Solonian system weighed 17-46 g.
1 Head, II. N. pp. 238, 239.
smaller coins of 5-461 g. The latter are explained as being
halves of the Roman aureus of 10-912 g.
The so-called ‘medallions of Asia Minor,’ struck under the
early Empire (Pl. XII. 8) down to the time of Hadrian, were
a continuation of the cistophori, and equivalent to three
Roman denarii (normal 11-70 g. down to the time of Nero,
thenceforward 10-23 g·)·
§ 6. Local Standards of European Greece.
The most important city inhabited by Greeks in the Crimean
district (Panticapaeum) struck gold staters of 9 072 g. (Pl. V. 4).
This high standard was probably due to the cheapness of gold
in this district, through which would pass great quantities of
the metal from the gold-bearing regions of Central Asia
In Greece proper, the Victoriate standard, which is of Italian
origin, and will be discussed below, is found in Northern
Greece after the ‘ liberation ’ by Flamininus in 196 b.c.
The most important state on the east coast of the Adriatic
in early times was Corcyra, which employed a light form of the
Aeginetic standard (stater from 11-87 to n-oi g., Pl. II. 7).
In the course of two and a half centuries the weight declined,
so that by the end of the fourth century b. c. the stater weighed
as little as 10-36 g. The drachm of about 5-18 g. could now
be regarded as a didrachm of the Corinthian standard. The
Corcyraean standard, used in various neighbouring places, such
as Apollonia and Dyrrhachium, down to the fourth century,
was finally ousted by its powerful rival, the Corinthian. But
before this it had made its way across the Adriatic, and estab-
lished itself as one of the two standards in use in Etruria.
The origin of the Attic standard has already been explained.
The history of the Athenian coinage, however, contains one
episode of great interest and historical importance. Before the
time of Solon’s introduction of the Attic standard a weight-
standard known as the Pheidonian, from its founder Pheidon,
king of Argos (see above, p. 6), was in use at Athens.
Solon introduced a new and heavier system, in which the
drachm weighed of the Pheidonian mina. The resultant
stater (or didrachm) of this Solonian system weighed 17-46 g.
1 Head, II. N. pp. 238, 239.