Athens & its territory

AtticaἈττική

12 references in the library

Athens, its territory and the reference works for the coinages of Attica.

Sunlit stone walls and monuments of the Acropolis rising above trees, seen from the Areopagus in Athens.
The Acropolis, seen from the Areopagus · AthensGgia, 2010 · Image credit
The city

Athena and the civic types

The Acropolis was a major sanctuary of Athena. The goddess’s helmeted head and an owl form the principal types of Athenian silver coinage from the late sixth century BC.1, 5

The material

Laurion silver mines

The Laurion mining district in southeastern Attica supplied silver for the Athenian coinage. Mine-lease inscriptions document the organization of the industry and its relationship to the state.4

The currency

Circulation and imitation

Athenian tetradrachms circulated beyond Attica. Their occurrence in hoards and the production of imitations provide evidence for the international use of Athenian silver.5

Mint study

Athens Ἀθῆναι →

Silver and bronze series, denomination standards, type descriptions and hoard evidence. The New Style index records 111 issue groups from Thompson’s corpus, with magistrate legends, symbols and page references.

  1. Series and chronology
  2. Metals, denominations, and standards
  3. Types, legends, and varieties
  4. Hoards and find evidence
Bibliography

Selected reference works

The Athenian coinage guide
Catalogue

BMC Attica, Megaris and Aegina

B. V. Head · BMC Attica · 1888

Specimen descriptions and catalogue references for the coinages of Attica, Megaris and Aegina.

Read in libraryTypology

From Wappenmünzen to Gorgoneia to Owls

John H. Kroll · 1981

An analysis of the Wappenmünzen types and the role of the gorgoneion issues in the transition to owl coinage.

Source referenceChronology

The Archaic Owls of Athens

Colin M. Kraay · 1956

A reassessment of the classification and dating of the early owl series, based on the numismatic evidence and earlier scholarship.

Source reference
Catalogue

Works on Attica

Search the texts

Dates and attributions in older catalogues may differ from those adopted in later studies.

Browse all 12 references
  1. Doctrine of Ancient Coins, vol. 4Josef Hilarius Eckhel · 1795 · Latin · Handbook / ManualRead in library
  2. Description of Ancient Greek and Roman Medals, vol. 3 (1824)Théodore E. Mionnet · 1824 · French · Specialized CorpusRead in library
  3. The Coins of AthensErnest Beulé · 1858 · French · Handbook / ManualSource reference
  4. A Numismatic Commentary on PausaniasFriedrich Imhoof-Blumer & Percy Gardner · 1887 · English · Specialized CorpusRead in library
  5. A Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum: Attica, Megaris, AeginaBarclay V. Head · 1888 · English · Regional and Civic CatalogueRead in library
  6. Common Greek Coins, Vol. IAlfred Watson Hands · 1907 · English · Handbook / ManualRead in library
  7. Treatise on Greek and Roman Coins, Part II (Historical Description), vol. IIIErnest Babelon · 1914 · French · Specialized CorpusRead in library
  8. Athens: Its History and Coinage before the Persian InvasionCharles T. Seltman · 1924 · English · Handbook / ManualRead in library
  9. The Archaic Owls of Athens: Classification and ChronologyColin M. Kraay · 1956 · English · Research ArticleSource reference
  10. The Celenderis HoardColin M. Kraay · 1962 · English · Research ArticleSource reference
  11. From Wappenmünzen to Gorgoneia to OwlsJohn H. Kroll · 1981 · English · Research ArticleSource reference
  12. New Specimens of Athenian Coinage, 480–449 BCChester G. Starr · 1982 · English · Research ArticleSource reference
Sources & image credits
  1. The Acropolis and the cult of AthenaUNESCO World Heritage Centre
  2. Athenian silver and the tetradrachmThe Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. The illustrated coin: 449–407 BCCleveland Museum of Art, 1916.992
  4. The leases of the Laureion minesMargaret Crosby, Hesperia 19 (1950), pp. 189–312
  5. The Greek Coins · Athenian Agora XXVIJohn H. Kroll, with Alan S. Walker (1993). Silver: pp. 4–15; bronze denominations: pp. 37–39.
  6. A Hoard of Athenian FractionsMargaret Thompson, ANS Museum Notes 7 (1957), pp. 1–11, pls. I–IV. Find and catalogue: pp. 1–5; interpretation and proposed date: pp. 6–11.
  7. The Reminting of Athenian Silver Coinage, 353 B.C.John H. Kroll, Hesperia 80 (2011), pp. 229–259. Folded flans: pp. 234–245; third-century coins and silver units: pp. 246–248.
  8. The New Style Silver Coinage of AthensMargaret Thompson, Numismatic Studies 10 (1961). Specimen corpus. The revised chronology is discussed in Kroll 1993, pp. 13–15.

Landscape photograph. Acropolis panoramic view from Areopagus hill, Ggia, 24 October 2010. CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons web rendition; no crop or other alteration.

Coin photographs. Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of J. H. Wade, 1916.992.a (obverse) and 1916.992.b (reverse). CC0. Museum web renditions, unaltered. Date and measurements follow the museum record; type descriptions may also be compared with Kroll 1993, p. 17, no. 8. The museum’s 449–407 BC dating applies to this specimen; the timeline follows Kroll’s broader chronology.

Piraeus hoard illustrations. Selected figure details from Thompson 1957: the jug from pl. IV; drachms 1–2 from pl. I; triobols 60–66 and diobol 73 from pl. III; obol 80, tritartemorion 84 and hemiobol 88 from pl. IV. © American Numismatic Society. These are excerpts for discussion of the published find; no open licence is claimed. Figure boundaries are selected without retouching the objects.

Hoard coins in colour. Kroll 2011, p. 243, fig. 6c–d, and p. 246, fig. 10a. Photographs © J. H. Kroll; courtesy of the American Numismatic Society. The article’s p. 229 n. 1 provides for noncommercial image reproduction. The relevant coin illustrations are extracted from their page layouts, without retouching.