Stater: Did you mean...?

The lyre was a stringed musical instrument played by the ancient Greeks. It was probably the most important and well-known instrument in the Greek world. The lyre was closely related to the other stringed instruments: the chelys which...

Croesus (r. 560-546 BCE) was the King of Lydia, a region in western Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and was so wealthy that the expression "as rich as Croesus" originates in reference to him. Best known for his wealth, he is also famous...

The coinage of Carthage was first minted from the 5th century BCE. Initially adopting the drachma, the Carthaginians later minted silver shekel coins. Designs were instantly recognisable, as intended, and included famous figures...

Top row (L to R): - Silver drachm from Corcyra (Corfu), 229-48 BCE. O: Head of Dione. R: Pegasus. - Silver didrachm from Rhodes, Caria, 304-166 BCE. O: Head of Helios. R: Rose. - Silver stater from Calymna, Caria...

Top row (L to R): Thera (c. 500 BCE) - Silver stater, two dolphins. Delos (6th century BCE) - Silver drachm, lyre. Siphnos (540-500 BCE) - Silver stater, eagle. (Alpha Bank Numismatics Museum, Kerkyra, Corfu) Bottom...

Silver. Weight: 10 gr., 10,1 gr., 11,3 gr., 11,4 gr. – Persian stater; 7,9 gr., 8,1 gr., 8,6 gr., 8,6 gr., 9,4 gr. (?) – Attic didrachm.

 d= 17/20-20/21 mm.

 Obverse: Lying hermaphrodite lion to the right/left...

Ptolemaic Egypt rapidly established itself as an economic powerhouse of the ancient world at the end of the 4th century BCE. The wealth of Egypt was owed in large part to the unrivalled fertility of the Nile, which...

Money may take many forms, from the digital code of cryptocurrency to the woodpecker scalps favoured in early California. People have also used cattle, cacao beans, cowrie shells, chewing gum, grain...

Top row (L to R): Cos (300-190 BCE) Silver tetradrachm, crab. Syracuse (c. 400 BCE) - Silver decadrachm, head of Arethousa with dolphins. Macedon (306-283 BCE) - Silver tetradrachm, Poseidon with trident. Bottom row (L to...

Silver stater coin, from Melos, Greece, c. 450 BCE. Some Greek cities used images for their names, so "readers" did not have to be literate. In Melos, an apple (mēlon) was used. The British Museum, London.