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The Ancient Olympics

I've always enjoyed the Olympics and it was only once I started collecting ancient coins that I learned about the ancient games and their coins. Many ancient coins depict historic events and rulers but there's something special about coins from the Olympics, especially circulated examples. Knowing that this coin was spent and used by people specifically during the ancient Olympics really lets the imagination run wild.

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One of the few ancient traditions to survive until the modern world is the Olympics. Occurring in the same four-year cycle today as in antiquity, they mark a time when differences are put aside and the world’s attention focuses on athletic competition between nations.

The name “Olympics” originates from where they were played. Olympia was a sanctuary of ancient Greece near the city of Elis, a fertile country in the northwest of the Peloponnese. It featured temples, sporting grounds, and accommodations for the athletes. The inhabitants of Elis were responsible for organizing the games every four years. The stadium at Olympia seated no less than forty-five thousand, and the publicity for the winners was immense.

These games were some of the most significant events of antiquity, even causing wars to be suspended for their duration. The classical Olympics date back to at least 776 BC and were played until 394 AD when emperor Theodosius I abolished them, considering them to be too reminiscent of paganism. The modern games that began in Athens in 1896 featured 43 different events, steadily increasing to nearly 400 events today.

The ancient Olympics represented much more than just sporting events. They were a lucrative business and provided a political and cultural forum, offering a range of activities during the games. The athletes, their trainers, and the spectators needed to be housed, fed, and supplied with souvenirs. The games brought thousands of citizens together from all parts of the Greek world to visit the vast market and fairs, watch performances, and attend concerts.

From the 5th to the 3rd century BC, a magnificent series of special silver coins were minted from the festival center for each iteration of the Olympic Games, with new designs produced every four years.

The coinage for the games served several purposes. No foreign money was accepted in Elis during the games, and the mandatory exchange offered means of funding the games and for the upkeep of the sanctuary at Olympia. A common currency also made commerce easier as the native currencies of the various visitors were often based on different weight standards.

The most talented artists were commissioned to engrave the dies for these coins, showing off the artistry of Greece and resulting in the beautiful coins being treated as prestigious objects. While their primary use was for normal commerce during the games (paying for food, lodging, and entry to see the spectacles), they became popular souvenirs for visitors who wanted to bring a part of the games home with them.

These coins celebrated the god Zeus and his wife Hera, who presided over Olympia and the games themselves. The Olympic coinage is represented by a small range of imagery, focusing heavily on Zeus and his eagle, sometimes featuring snakes, thunderbolts, Ionic column capitals, or Nike, representing victory at the games.

Zeus’ portrait was used on some coins, modeled after the Statue of Zeus, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It was also sufficient to use just an eagle or thunderbolt to refer to the god, as Zeus’ symbols were well known.

Eagles have always been a symbol for power, force, and guardianship because of their size, strong claws, and penetrating eyes. They were considered the kings of the air and certainly a fitting animal for Zeus, who presided over the sky and thunder.

The eagle on the obverse of this coin is acclaimed as the finest and most detailed representation of the head of an animal on any Greek coin. Magnificent in its composition and depicted with a great sense of naturalism, its elegance is in its simplicity, showing the strength of Zeus in the eagle’s forceful expression.

Below the eagle’s head is a leaf from the white-poplar tree brought from the northern lands to plant at Olympia. The white-poplar was sacred to the mythological hero Hercules, and he was crowned with one of its branches as a token of his victory after destroying the Cacus, a fire-breathing giant.

The reverse depicts a thunderbolt, in the usual stylized Greek fashion. While unsigned, it is understood that the die was engraved by the artist “Da” who signed the preceding, nearly identical die.

The coin is worn but appealing, showing clear evidence of its circulation at the Olympics. One can only imagine the wares purchased and sights seen by the spectators who spent it while in attendance at the 93rd Olympiad, more than 2,400 years ago.

Elis, Olympia, 408 BC. Zeus mint. Struck for the 93rd Olympaid. Silver Stater (11.74g). Head of eagle with piercing eye left; under its beak, a large leaf of white-poplar. Reverse: Winged thunderbolt, olive sprigs to right and left; all within olive-leaf border. Seltman 150; Traite pl. 231, 1 (these dies) . Kraay-Himer pl. 157, 500 (this obverse die) ; Gulbenkian 541 (this obverse die) ; Weber 4038. One of the masterpieces of Greek coinage and the most realistic close-up of an animal depicted on any Greek coin. Lightly toned and of good metal. Very Fine.

Post your coins from the Olympics, ancient or modern!
Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection

Comments

  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great write up! I can clearly see the historical importance of this piece.

    In terms of eye appeal, you have spoiled us rotten and this piece comes across somewhat duller when compared to the others you have shared. I would still take it though image

    Thanks for sharing.
  • SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,135 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Great write up! I can clearly see the historical importance of this piece.

    In terms of eye appeal, you have spoiled us rotten and this piece comes across somewhat duller when compared to the others you have shared. I would still take it though image >>




    Thanks! And yes, I completely agree - if ranked by eye appeal, I'd put this coin fairly low in my collection (especially because of the reverse), but even though I've had opportunities to upgrade it, I've decided not to as I like how much it has circulated - it's one area I collect contrarily to the rest of my collection. I've had to stop myself from buying up many Olympia coins recently... I have one more which I will be posting soon, and find them very tempting. I'll probably end up with a sub-collection from each of the Olympiads but in the meantime I'm trying to maintain a modicum of balance.
    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
  • ZoharZohar Posts: 6,629 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Very neat theme. Pardon my ignorance - were winners awarded with medals or just crowned?
  • SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,135 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Very neat theme. Pardon my ignorance - were winners awarded with medals or just crowned? >>



    They didn't receive a medal, just the fame and glory of winning (and sometimes extra financial benefits on top of just being a national hero). There was also no second/third place: only the winner's name was ever recorded. If they won a substantial victory, they would be able to have a generic statue built in their honor at Olympia and upon winning three times, they could have a custom statue built, and some would have songs written speaking to their prowess.
    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
  • That is one serious-looking eagle.

    When I saw this coin in your collection some time ago it piqued my interest, initially because it was aesthetically (read: condition) different from the rest of your coins. Learning more about the coins of Olympia, I wholeheartedly agree with its inclusion in your collection.

    And since I am a devout SmEagle coinstalker, I have added some to my collection. Barring postal Bermuda triangles, they should arrive next week. image
  • SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,135 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Fascinating !

    LINK >>




    That's a great link: it's amazing to see the level of attention to detail applied to the Olympic winners, considering many details of major contemporary altercations and battles are vague at best.
    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
  • TIF2TIF2 Posts: 233
    As part of my ongoing SmEagle stalking, I now have a coin of Olympia image. It's a little brother of his magnificent coin, a hemidrachm struck 8 years later for the 95th Olympiad (400 BCE).

    image

    There were four candidates in that auction and I couldn't make up my mind. I bought all of them. image Here are two more. The fourth has so far eluded good imaging.

    From the 107th-108th Olympiad, a hemidrachm with Zeus/Eagle:
    image

    From the 103rd Olympiad, a drachm with Hera/Eagle. Very rare.
    image

  • TIF2TIF2 Posts: 233
    Something I don't understand about your coin, SmEagle...

    The eagle's brow seems to overhang. In other words, the is a recess which curves inward between the eyeball and brow. If that is truly the case and not a function of shadows, the coin would get stuck in the die upon striking. It's a mystery. I bet they had to pry each coin off anvil after striking. If there's just that one undercut area it could be levered out without causing significant damage.

    I also bet that your coin was struck from a relatively fresh die and that overhang/undercut rapidly lost detail.
  • SmEagle1795SmEagle1795 Posts: 2,135 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Great coins, TIF! I'm happy to be a bad influence if you end up with coins like these image Although your acquisitions are a bit adversarial... you now have a more complete Olympics set than I do. Time for me to go hunting for more...



    << <i>Something I don't understand about your coin, SmEagle...

    The eagle's brow seems to overhang. In other words, the is a recess which curves inward between the eyeball and brow. If that is truly the case and not a function of shadows, the coin would get stuck in the die upon striking. It's a mystery. I bet they had to pry each coin off anvil after striking. If there's just that one undercut area it could be levered out without causing significant damage.

    I also bet that your coin was struck from a relatively fresh die and that overhang/undercut rapidly lost detail. >>



    I have to admit I haven't looked at it at an oblique enough angle to tell if it goes inward. It certainly looks like it does, but I agree that it would put considerable pressure on the die and coin upon striking, so it might be an optical illusion. I'll take a look the next time I have a "coin day"!
    Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
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