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The three most important standards of the ancient Greek monetary system were the Attic standard, based on the Athenian drachma of 4.3 grams (2.8 pennyweights) of silver, the Corinthian standard based on the stater of 8.6 g (5.5 dwt) of silver, that was subdivided into three silver drachmas of 2.9 g (1.9 dwt), and the Aeginetan stater or didrachm of 12.2 g (7.8 dwt), based on a drachma of 6.1 g ...
The coin for Charon is conventionally referred to in Greek literature as an obolós (ὀβολός), one of the basic denominations of ancient Greek coinage, worth one-sixth of a drachma. [7] Among the Greeks, coins in actual burials are sometimes also a danakē ( δανάκη ) or other relatively small-denomination gold , silver , bronze or ...
The Achaean standard consisted of a stater of around 8 g, divided into three drachms of 2.6 g and obols of 0.4 g; these weights declined over time. It was first used in the mid-sixth century by the Greek city-states of Sybaris, Metapontum, and Croton, which had been founded in Magna Graecia by Achaeans from the Peloponnese, and it remained one of the main standards in Magna Graecia until the ...
The new coinage issued consisted of copper coins of 1, 2, 5 and 10 lepta, with the 5- and 10-lepton coins bearing the names obolos (ὀβολός) and diobolon (διώβολον), respectively; silver coins of 20 lepta, 50 lepta, 1 drachma, 2 drachmae and 5 drachmae and gold coins of 5, 10 and 20 drachmae. (Very small numbers of 50- and 100 ...
The drachma was the standard unit of silver coinage at most ancient Greek mints, and the name obol was used to describe a coin that was one-sixth of a drachma. [2] The notion that drachma derived from the word for fistful was recorded by Herakleides of Pontos (387–312 BC) who was informed by the priests of Heraion that Pheidon , king of Argos ...
While 0.72 grams was the weight of a standard Greek obol, the actual amount of silver that went into making the currency could vary from region to region. Obols in Athens were typically near the 0.72-gram standard, while Corinth was documented having 0.42-gram obols.
The tetradrachm (Ancient Greek: τετράδραχμον, romanized: tetrádrachmon) was a large silver coin that originated in Ancient Greece. It was nominally equivalent to four drachmae . [ 1 ] Over time the tetradrachm effectively became the standard coin of the Antiquity , spreading well beyond the borders of the Greek World.
Commemorative Greek drachma coins have been issued by the Bank of Greece throughout the 20th century. Early (1940–1967) coins were minted in Birmingham, Paris, Vienna, and Prague, but since 1978 all of Greece's commemorative coins have been minted in Athens.