A wide variety of different monetary standards were used by different ancient Greek city-states for their silver coinage. These standards differed in the weight of the main monetary unit and also in the denominational structure of the coinage. Modern numismatists have assigned names to these standards, based on the most prominent city-state that minted on them or the region where they are most common.
Each standard was based on a single unit: usually a stater or a drachm. All other denominations in the system would be multiples or subdivisions of that unit.[1] In practice individual coins tend to vary from their ideal weights, due to a lack of precision during manufacture and the loss of weight over time through wear.
Some standards were restricted to a few city-states; others, notably the Attic-Euboean standard, became very widespread. Weight standards tended to decline over time, because mints sought to profit by producing coins that were slightly lighter than their nominal weight,[1] and because the weight of new coins was often based on the weight of coins already in circulation, which had lost weight through wear.[2][3]
Many of these standards derived from systems of weight that existed in individual city-states when they began to use coinage in the sixth and fifth centuries BC. Others arose over time as a result of weight reductions and weight adjustments. Most Greek states had ceased to mint silver coinage by the reign of Augustus, but a few standards continued in use throughout the Principate, like the cistophori.
- ^ a b Kallet & Kroll 2020, pp. 148–149.
- ^ Mørkholm 1991, pp. 9–10.
- ^ Boehringer 2000, p. 89.