Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 14.djvu/800

* NUMISMATICS. 682 NUMISMATICS. mant, La monnaie dans I'antiquitd (Paris, 1878-79) ; Eckliel, Doctriiia Xumorum Veterum (8 vols., Vienna, 1792-98) ; Jlionnet, Descrij)- twn de medailks antiques yrecqucs el romaiius (16 vols., with supplements, Paris, 180U-37); Grasse, Handbiirh dcr alien Xumismalik (Leip- zig, 1853-54) ; De Hartheleniy, Nouveau manuel de niimismatiiiiie ancienne, vol. i. text, vol. ii. atlas (Paris. 1890). Greek Coi.ns — Gexer.l Characteristics — History. The coins of the ancient Greeks de- sen-edly occupy the first place in nnniisniatic studies for their artistic excellence, which has never been surpassed, their enormous variety, and the light they throw on every phase of ancient Greek life. In the Hellenic world each town was a more or less independent State, and each proclaimed its autonomy by est:il)lishing a mint and issuing coins, generally for circulation within its own domains. The types chosen were extremely various, but generally bore sonie rela- tion to the local cult. It will' readily be seen, therefore, how much we are indebted to coins for our exact knowledge of the religion, myth- ologj', art. and monuments of the ancient Greeks. This will be illustrated briefly in the following section, in which the history of Greek coins will be explained with reference to tlicir li/ites. A short preliminary account of the various de- nominations, considered purely as nioncif, will not be without value. In the early gold and electrum coinage of Asia Jlinor tlw- unit was the crraT^p, stater, or 'standard;' with its divisions, the half-stater ( V^TOTw, /ienHS'"/'?'"), third ( Tplrri, trite), sixth (ckty). hekte) ; and its multiple, the SUrraTrjpov, dtstalrron. or double stater. From their i)lace of emission or from the luime of the reigning king they received such names as Kv^iK-nvoi, kaiiypaKrivoi, ^oKaiKol (staters of Cy/iius. Lampsacus, Phocica). Kpodrctos aTarrip ( stater of Cra^sus ). AapeiK^s arar^p or Aapeixis ('daric" of King Darius), etc. The Persian sil- ver coin was callt>d 17(7X05 (siqlos, silver daric), which is the Greek form of the Hebrew sheqel, shekel, which was a unit of count in Palestine until actually coined by Simon JIaccab;pus, In Greece the unit of count was the silver Spaxp^v. drachme, which in its origin was pr(il)ably the value in silver of the grain that could be placed (a "handful,' Spd{) upon one of the scales of the balance. Consequently the two equipoised handfuls, or Spaxpai, formed a new 'standard.' or unit of count, a (ttotijp corresponding to the double drachme (5(5poxMO''. "r silver stater). The fireek subdivision wasduodecimal, as follows: the (TToTi}p or silver didrachm was divideil into twelve a/9oXo( or obols: and for small change the obol it^lf was divided into 'portions' known as TpmjTeTapTrifLdpiov ('three-fourths jMirtion,' contraite<l to rpiTTj^pior, Irilvnidriun), TpiijwiTa/i- rriu6piov ( 'three-eighths portion"), rfTaprriiidpiov (•fourth portion.' contr8'pt and at Car- thage. AtKiSpaxtiOp, drkadrnchmnn, of ten drachm?, in gold and silver at Athens, at Car- thage, and in Egypt. The so-called silver 'medal- lions' of Syracuse are pentekontalitrw (see be- low), equivalent to Attic dekadrachms. 'Oktu- Spaxp^", oktodrachmon, of eight drachms, coined in gold and in silver by the Ptolemies, in gold by the Seleucida'. and in silver in Tliraee and Carthage. 'EtdSpoxM'"', hesadracliinon, of si.x drachms, coined perhaps in gold by the Seleucid;e. certainly in silver at Carthage. lltirrd&paxf^oi', peiitadrachmon, of five drachms, of the Ptolemies in gold, and of the kings of Maccdim in silver. Irrpabpaxp^v, tetradraetimon, in English tetia- driuhia, of four drachms, a silver coin of mii- versal usage. t piSpax/^of, tridrachmon, of three drachms, in silver, at Ephesus, Carthage, Cyme, Alabanda, and elsewhere, AlSpaxp^or, didruchinon, in English 'didrachm.' the silver stater, in universal circulation, like the drachm itself. (B) Divisions of the drachme. 'Evtu^oXov, hei>tOhulun. of seven obols (1 1-li drachms), the large copper coin of Egjpt, struck under Plideniy Philadelphus, '£Jci/3oo>', /if Joho/oH, copper of the second size of Ptolemy Philadelphus, lleiTu^oXoc, pentobolon, of five obols (5-6 drachm), struck in silver in Athens in the time of Aristophanes the comedian, and in copper of the third si/e in Egj'pt, TfTpii/SoXoi', tctrObolon. of four obols. a silver coin at Athens in the fifth century B.C. Tpiii/SoXoi', trioholon. of three obols, as a gold coin in Egypt anil Carthage; as a silver coin =: the rj/itdpaxf'ov. hcniidrachm, found everywhere. Aiii/SoXox, diubolon, of two obols. in silver every- where, in bronze in Egj'pt. Tpiij/niu/SoXov, tri- hemiobolon (i.e. 1% obols or 1V4 drachm), in silver at Athens, Corinth, Leucas, Tegea, etc. '0/3oXi5s,ofco?os, the small unit, very common as a silver coin; in bronze in Egy])t. at (liios, Metapontum. etc. 'Hiiia^dXiov, hvmit'iboUon [-^ drachm, ij obol). al.so very common in silver. The smaller divisions are rarer. The Iritcmorion ( % obol ) is found in silver at Athens, Delphi, etc.: the tartemorion ( % obol) at Athens and imder .lexander the Great in silver, at Metapon- tuni in copper; the licmitarlemorion (^ obol) also at Athens in silver, at Metapontum in copper. In the Greek cities of Sicily and Italy the name pSfios or vovfipai was given to a sil- ver coin of frequent mintage, similar to the Grecian didrachm or stater. But the Greeks of the West adopted also the native Sikel unit of the X/Tpa, litru, equivalent to the ancient "pound' of copper, divided into twelve oiVyi/ai, ouniikiai. or ounces, whence the Romans derived their earliest system of the ws grnre. (See be- low.) On the litral system, a number of fine silver coins were issued, as the splendid 'nieilal- lions' of Syracuse, the most artistic coins ever struck, which are TrevTT}KovT6.irpa, or pieces of fifty X/rpai, and the famous AijwipTjTfia of Queen Demarete: also S«(iXiTpa in Sicily. irtyTdXiTpo at Agrigentum. and SiXirpo at Kliegium. To give an adequate description, even in gen- eral terms, of Greek coins as works of art and as historic documents would require a volume; the reader is referred for fuller information to the bibliography appended to this section. For convenience of classification and study, the whole series is arranged in seven historic periods, as follows : I. c.7nO-480 n.c. {Period of Archaic Art). II. c.480-415 n.c. (Period of Tranxitinnal Art). III. c.41.i-.'i.S6 u.c. (Period of Finest Art). IV. c,336-280 B,c, (Period of hater Fine Art). f*™)