Ancient Olympic coin

determined

(You may have seen this posted on another forum, but I wanted to post it here also. The pictures are the seller's. My photographic technique still needs work.)


The Olympics will begin soon so I thought I would share this coin from my collection. It was minted specifically for the Olympic games circa 450's BC.

Elis, Olympia. Circa 450's BC. AR stater - 22mm, 11.44 g. Eagle flying right, grasping a hare by the belly, (belly up) / F-A, winged thunderbolt; all in incuse circle. Seltman 55 (AH/an); BCD -. Near VF, banker's mark on obverse, choice flan. Very rare.




The eagle on the obverse represents Zeus's eagle. The F-A on the reverse stands for "of the Eleans", i.e., of the people of Elis. Elis was the ancient district in which the sanctuary of Olympia resided. These coins were very likely minted in the Olympic sanctuary.

The reason for the reference to Zeus on the coin would be because of the Temple of Zeus in the Olympic sanctuary. In addition to being an important temple in the Greek world, it also housed the statue of Zeus made by the famous sculptor Pheidias. This statue was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The first Olympic coins were minted around 471 BC. So this coin is a fairly early example.


The exact start date of the Olympic games is not known, but written records start at 776 BC. The Olympics continued until 391 AD when the Emperor Theodosius ended the games.

Of the four big sanctuaries - Olympia, Delphi, Isthmia, and Nemea - that hosted crown games during the Classical period, only Olympia had a regular coinage that was associated with its festival. This coinage would serve as the only legal tender during the games. All foreign coins had to be exchanged. This exchange was done for a fee which went to pay for the upkeep of the sanctuary at Olympia. Besides being a source of income for the sanctuary, this exchange to a common currency made commerce easier as the home currencies of the various visitors were sometimes based on different weight standards.

A common currency was also needed because one of the great attractions of the Olympic Festival was the vast market or fair that took place there at the same time as the games, drawing an immense audience of buyers and sellers from all over the Greek world.

The fact that there were a wide variety of denominations of Olympic coinage - staters (or didrachms), drachms, hemidrachms and obols - shows that these coins were for commerce and were not just souvenirs as was once thought.


This is one of my favorite coins in my collection. I can imagine someone having this coin in their pocket or coin pouch and watching the Olympic Games, or strolling around the Olympic festival, some 2458 years ago.

lordmarcovan

Wonderful. I can see why you call it a favorite.

And here I was, getting ready to stifle my usual yawn at any "Olympic" coin.

This is an Olympic coin of a different character altogether!

I love the ancient Greek stuff but for the most part, cannot afford it, which is why I have contented myself with Roman imperials for the time being.

Who'd you get that one from, if you don't mind my asking?

determined

I got it a couple years ago from Barry Murphy on vcoins.

I was lucky. I checked vcoins one last time very late one night. (You know how going to vcoins to check for newly listed coins is like pulling the arm on a slot machine. It's addicting. And you never know when you'll get a winner.) Barry had just posted a half dozen Olympic coins. I quickly bought the best one. And in the morning the rest were all sold.

I was so glad I was up late that night!

lordmarcovan

VCoins rocks. I never thought I would find anything to outdo eBay, but when it comes to ancients, I'll bet 80% or more of my Roman Imperial set has come from VCoins dealers.



<< <i>You know how going to vcoins to check for newly listed coins is like pulling the arm on a slot machine. It's addicting. And you never know when you'll get a winner.) >>


I'm glad to know I am not the only sufferer of that particular disease.

lordmarcovan

You really should post that here.

Mark

I am so glad you posted about this coin over on the US Coin board (in the I'll never post another coin thread). I would not have seen you coin otherwise and that would have been my loss. I agree with you that it's so evocative to see this coin and to think of someone actually using it 2500 years ago. It really makes me wonder about the people that used the coin when it was new ... I wonder what they would think and say if somehow they, like their coin, could be transported to today. That coin is simply a marvelous piece of human history.

Swampboy

determined

Thanks guys!

I have a lot of interesting ancients that I've collected over the past 13 years. I will have to post more from time to time. And I also must realize that not everyone finds ancients appealing.

But now the ice is broken. See you around.

Rickc300

The ice is broken indeed! I do appreciate the ancients when someone tells me what they are because I have no idea on how to figure out where or who they came from on my own. This particular olympic coin was a treat for me and gave me an idea on how very special it is to actually identify a coin to a specifc year or event like the olympics...

Thanks for sharing!

Rick