Greek & Roman

Greek coins: from electrum to Alexander the Great

Coinage began in western Asia Minor in the 7th century BC, and the earliest coins were struck in electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver. Our Greek coins range from archaic electrum fractions from Ionia and Lesbos to silver from the classical and Hellenistic world: a tetradrachm of Athens with Athena and her owl, staters and nomoi from the Greek colonies of southern Italy such as Tarentum and Metapontion, drachms from Syracuse and coins of Rhodes. Many of the most affordable Greek coins are tiny silver fractions – obols, hemiobols and even smaller – often weighing less than a gram, yet sometimes remarkably finely engraved.

The tetradrachm of Alexander the Great, with Herakles in a lion skin and Zeus enthroned, was struck in great numbers long after his death in 323 BC. The category also includes coins from the neighbours of the Greek world: Persian sigloi of the Achaemenid kings, silver from Sidon in Phoenicia and drachms of the Parthian kings.

Roman coins from Republic to Empire

Rome’s silver denarius was introduced around 211 BC, during the war against Hannibal, and remained the backbone of Roman money for more than four centuries. Among our Roman coins you will find Republican denarii signed by moneyers who changed every year, Imperial denarii and large brass sestertii with portraits of emperors and empresses, and coins from the crisis years of the 3rd century, when the silver content fell sharply. Late Roman bronzes of Constantine the Great and Julian II carry the story to the end of the Western Empire in 476. Many coins of the Imperial period were struck in the eastern provinces, such as silver tetradrachms from Antioch with Greek legends.

Byzantine coins

The Eastern Roman Empire lived on with Constantinople as its capital. Byzantine coinage is usually counted from Anastasius I, whose reform of 498 introduced a large copper follis marked M for 40 nummi. Our Byzantine coins include folles of Anastasius, Maurice Tiberius and Phokas, and the anonymous folles of the 10th and 11th centuries, which show a bust of Christ instead of the emperor.

What do collectors look for in ancient coins?

Ancient coins were struck by hand, one at a time, so no two are exactly alike. Collectors look especially at:

• Strike and centring – whether the portrait and legend are fully on the flan.
• Wear – usually graded from Fine to Extremely Fine.
• Surface and patina – an even, stable patina on bronze and natural toning on silver are valued, while cleaning and corrosion lower the value.
• Rarity and historical interest – the ruler, the mint and the reverse design.
• Provenance – a documented collecting history, such as an old collector’s ticket or an auction record.

Wherever possible, each object is identified with references to standard catalogues such as RIC, Crawford or Sear, so you can compare it with the literature. Denarius was founded by Marius Ringsrud, who trained in classical archaeology at the University of Oslo and Uppsala University.