Greece, Attica, AR Tetradrachma

Greece, Attica, Athens, 380-250 BC, AR Tetradrachma

Head of Athena

Rs.Owl with olive twig and crescent moon in quadratum incusum

Younger type

Historical

The tetradrachm or tetradrachmon (Greek τετράδραχμον, also tetrachmon) is a coin of four drachms, a four-drachm piece. Tetradrachms were minted from the end of the 6th century BC until the Roman imperial period; they were in use sporadically until the 3rd century AD.

The tetradrachm is considered the most important large silver coin of the states of ancient Greece. It was introduced in Athens around 530/520 BC and formed the standard piece of the coin base, i.e. the stater. Coinages oriented on Attic coinage took over this function. They were minted from Bactria to Sicily. The mass of the tetradrachms typically ranged from 14 to a good 17 g. For one tetradrachm, a craftsman of the 5th to 4th century BC had to work for about four days - assuming participation in the money economy.

The coinage fluctuated over the course of time. Silver contents far below 500/1000 (billon) had, for example, the Alexandrians, imperial Roman coins for the Egyptian part of the empire.