Editing Coin (section)

=== Antiquity  ===

==== Classical Greek antiquity (480 BC~) ====
{{multiple image
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| image2            = SNGANS 259.jpg
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| caption2          = A '''[[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracusan]] [[tetradrachm]]'''<br>(c. 415–405 BC)<br>''Obverse'': head of the [[nymph]] [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]], surrounded by four swimming [[dolphin]]s and a [[rudder]]<br>''Reverse'': a racing [[quadriga]], its [[chariot]]eer crowned by the goddess [[Nike (mythology)|Victory]] in flight.
| image1            = SNGCop 039.jpg
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| caption1          = '''Tetradrachm of Athens'''<br>(c. 454–404 BC)<br>''Obverse'': a portrait of [[Athena]], patron goddess of the city, in [[Attic helmet|helmet]]<br>''Reverse'': the owl of Athens, with an [[olive]] sprig and the inscription "ΑΘΕ", short for ΑΘΕΝΑΙΟΝ, "of the [[Athenians]]"
}}
{{further|Ancient Greek coinage|Illyrian coinage}}
The [[Classical Greece|Classical period]] saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of fine silver and gold coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary hero on one side, and a symbol of the city on the other. Some coins employed a visual pun: some coins from [[Rhodes]] featured a [[rose]], since the Greek word for rose is ''rhodon''. The use of inscriptions on coins also began, usually the name of the issuing city.

The wealthy cities of Sicily produced some especially fine coins. The large silver ''decadrachmes'' (10-drachmes) coin from [[Syracuse, Sicily|Syracuse]] is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever. Syracusan issues were rather standard in their imprints, one side bearing the head of the nymph [[Arethusa (mythology)|Arethusa]] and the other usually a victorious [[quadriga]]. The [[List of Tyrants of Syracuse|tyrants of Syracuse]] were fabulously rich, and part of their [[public relations]] policy was to fund [[quadriga]]s for the [[Ancient Olympic Games|Olympic chariot race]], a very expensive undertaking. As they were often able to finance more than one quadriga at a time, they were frequent victors in this highly prestigious event. Syracuse was one of the epicenters of numismatic art during the classical period. Led by the engravers Kimon and Euainetos, Syracuse produced some of the finest coin designs of antiquity.

Amongst the first centers to [[Greek coinage of Italy and Sicily|produce coins during the Greek colonization of Southern Italy]] (the so-called "[[Magna Graecia]]") were [[Paestum]], [[Crotone]], [[Sybaris]], [[Caulonia (ancient city)|Caulonia]], [[Metapontum]], and [[Taranto]]. These ancient cities started producing coins from 550&nbsp;BC to 510&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/bruttium/i.html|title=Bruttium – Ancient Greek Coins – WildWinds.|access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wildwinds.com/coins/greece/lucania/i.html|title=Lucania – Ancient Greek Coins – WildWinds.com|access-date=8 September 2014}}</ref>

Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to {{circa|560&nbsp;BC|lk=no}} in [[Populonia]], a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy.  In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia.<ref name="Giuseppe Amisano 1992 pp. 15-20">Giuseppe Amisano, "Cronologia e politica monetaria alla luce dei segni di valore delle monete etrusche e romane", in: ''Panorama numismatico'', 49 (genn. 1992), pp. 15–20</ref>

<gallery>
File:ISLANDS off ATTICA. Aegina. Circa 456-45-431 BC.jpg|[[Aegina]] coin type, incuse skew pattern, c. 456/45–431 BC
File:MACEDON, Akanthos. Circa 470-430 BC.jpg|Coin of [[Akanthos (Greece)|Akanthos]], [[Macedon]], c. 470-430 BC.
File:PAMPHYLIA, Aspendos. Circa 465-430 BC.jpg|Coin of [[Aspendos]], [[Pamphylia]], c. 465–430 BC.
File:KORKYRA, Korkyra. Circa 350-30-290-70 BC.jpg|Coin from [[Korkyra (polis)|Korkyra]], c. 350/30–290/70 BC.
File:CYPRUS, Paphos. Onasi(...). Mid 5th century BC.jpg|Coin of [[Cyprus]], c. 450 BC.
</gallery>

====Appearance of dynastic portraiture (5th century BC) ====
[[File:Tissaphernes head.jpg|thumb|The [[Achaemenid Empire]] [[satrap]]s and dynasts in [[Asia Minor]] developed the usage of portraiture from c. 420 BC. Portrait of the satrap of [[Lydia]], [[Tissaphernes]] (c. 445–395 BC).]]
Although many of the first coins illustrated the images of various gods, the first portraiture of actual rulers appears with the coinage of [[Lycia]] in the 5th century BC.<ref>"The earliest attempts at portraiture appear to have taken place in Lycia. The heads of various dynasts appear on coins of the fifth century" {{cite book |last1=Carradice |first1=Ian |title=Ancient Greek Portrait Coins |date=1978 |publisher=British Museum Publications |isbn=9780714108490 |page=2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4FdmAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref><ref name="SW">{{cite book |last1=West |first1=Shearer |last2=Birmingham) |first2=Shearer |title=Portraiture |date=2004 |publisher=OUP Oxford |isbn=9780192842589 |page=68 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q3sRDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA68 |language=en}}</ref> No ruler had dared illustrating his own portrait on coinage until that time.<ref name="SW"/> The Achaemenids had been the first to illustrate the person of their king or a hero in a stereotypical manner, showing a bust or the full body but never an actual portrait, on their [[Sigloi]] and [[Daric]] coinage from c. 500 BC.<ref name="SW"/><ref name="Root">{{cite journal |last1=Root |first1=Margaret Cool |title=The Persian archer at Persepolis : aspects of chronology, style and symbolism |journal=Revue des Études Anciennes |volume=91 |date=1989 |pages=43–50 |language=en|doi=10.3406/rea.1989.4361 }}</ref><ref name="TC20">{{cite journal |page=20|title=Half-figure of the King: unravelling the mysteries of the earliest Sigloi of Darius I|journal=The Celator |volume=26 |issue=2 |date=February 2012|url=https://community.vcoins.com/thecelator/The-Celator-Vol.26-No.02-Feb-2012.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181121161656/https://community.vcoins.com/thecelator/The-Celator-Vol.26-No.02-Feb-2012.pdf |archive-date=2018-11-21 |url-status=live}}</ref> A slightly earlier candidate for the first portrait-coin is [[Themistocles]] the Athenian general, who became a Governor of [[Magnesia on the Meander]], c. 465–459 BC, for the Achaemenid Empire,<ref>"A rare silver fraction recently identified as a coin of Themistocles from Magnesia even has a bearded portrait of the great man, making it by far the earliest datable portrait coin. Other early portraits can be seen on the coins of Lycian dynasts." {{cite book |last1=Carradice |first1=Ian |last2=Price |first2=Martin |title=Coinage in the Greek World |date=1988 |publisher=Seaby |isbn=9780900652820 |page=84 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVZmAAAAMAAJ |language=en}}</ref> although there is some question as to whether his coins may have represented [[Zeus]] rather than himself.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rhodes |first1=P. J. |title=A History of the Classical Greek World: 478–323 BC |date=2011 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9781444358582 |page=58 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5fkjzwJxCA4C&pg=PP58 |language=en}}</ref> Themistocles may have been in a unique position in which he could transfer the notion of individual [[portrait]]ure, already current in the Greek world, and at the same time wield the dynastic power of an Achaemenid dynasty who could issue his own coins and illustrate them as he wished.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Howgego |first1=Christopher |title=Ancient History from Coins |date=2002 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781134877843 |page=64 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DCC3l5kS5O8C&pg=PA64 |language=en}}</ref> From the time of [[Alexander the Great]], portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage.<ref name="SW"/>
<gallery>
File:IONIA, Magnesia ad Maeandrum. Themistokles reverse. Circa 465-459 BC.jpg|alt=Coin of Themistocles as Governor of Magnesia. Obv: Barley grain. Rev: Possible portrait of Themistocles. Circa 465–459 BC.|Coin of [[Themistocles]] as Governor of Magnesia. ''Obv'': Barley grain. ''Rev'': Possible portrait of Themistocles, c. 465–459 BC.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=308695| title = CNG: IONIA, Magnesia ad Maeandrum. Themistokles. Circa 465-459 BC. AR Hemiobol (7mm, 0.37 g, 1h)}}</ref>
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kherei. Circa 440-30-410 BC.jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler [[Kherei]] wearing the Persian cap on the reverse of his coins (ruled 410–390 BC).
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina. Circa 430-20-400 BC.jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler [[Erbbina]] wearing the Persian cap on the reverse of his coins (ruled 390–380 BC).
File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Perikles. Circa 380-360 BC.jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler [[Pericles, Dynast of Lycia|Perikles]] facing (ruled 380–360 BC).
</gallery>

====Indian coins (c. 400 BC – AD 100)====
{{main|Punch-marked_coins#Indian_punch-marked_coins}}
{{see also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Coinage of India}}
[[File:Hoard of mostly Mauryan coins.jpg|thumb|Hoard of mostly [[Mauryan Empire]] coins, 3rd century BC]]
The [[Karshapana]] is the earliest [[punch-marked coin]] found in India, produced from at least the mid-4th century BC, and possibly as early as 575 BC,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=HARDAKER|first=TERRY R.|date=1975|title=The origins of coinage in northern India|journal=The Numismatic Chronicle|volume=15|pages=200–203|jstor=42666515}}</ref> influenced by similar coins produced in [[Gandhara]] under the Achaemenid empire, such as those of the [[Kabul hoard]],<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://www.academia.edu/33456187 |title=Investigating the introduction of coinage in India – a review of recent research |journal =Journal of the Numismatic Society of India |volume =xlv |publisher =Varanasi |date =1983|last1=Cribb|first1=Joe |pages=85–86, 101|language=en}}</ref> or other examples found at [[Pushkalavati]] and in [[Bhir Mound]].<ref name="CNG 309206">[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=309206 372. Lot: 658, Lot of two AR bent bars], CNG Coins.
{{harvnb |Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=57–59}}: "Silver bent-bar punch-marked coin of Kabul region under the Achaemenid Empire, c.350 BC: Coins of this type found in quantity in Chaman Hazouri and Bhir Mound hoards." (Commentary by [[Joe Cribb]] and [[Osmund Bopearachchi]])</ref>

====Chinese round coins (350 BC~) ====
{{main|Ancient Chinese coinage}}
[[File:CHINA, Eastern Zhou dynasty - Warring States Period. State of Qí. City of Yi. Circa 300-220 BC.jpg|thumb|Chinese round coins, [[Eastern Zhou dynasty]] – [[Warring States Period]], c. 300–220 BC. Four Hua (四化, 30mm, 6.94 g). Legend ''Yi Si Hua'' ([City of] Yi Four Hua).]]
[[Ancient Chinese coinage|In China]], early round coins appeared in the 4th century BC and were adopted for all China by Emperor [[Qin Shi Huang Di]] at the end of 3rd century BC.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schaps |first1=David |title=The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece |date=2004 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0472113330 |page=235 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pqINoVlD0RcC&pg=PA235 |language=en}}</ref> The round coin, the precursor of the familiar [[Cash (Chinese coin)|cash coin]], circulated in both the spade and knife money areas in the Zhou period, from around 350 BC. Apart from two small and presumably late coins from the State of Qin, coins from the spade money area have a round hole and refer to the ''jin'' and ''liang'' units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and are denominated in ''hua'' (化).

Although for discussion purposes the Zhou coins are divided up into categories of knives, spades, and round coins, it is apparent from archaeological finds that most of the various kinds circulated together. A hoard found in 1981, near Hebi in north Henan province, consisted of: 3,537 Gong spades, 3 Anyi arched foot spades, 8 Liang ''Dang Lie'' spades, 18 Liang square foot spades and 1,180 Yuan round coins, all contained in three clay jars.

==== Hellenistic period (320 BC – AD 30) ====
{{Further|Ptolemaic coinage|Seleucid coinage|Indo-Greek coinage}}
[[File:Alexander the great temnos tetradrachm.jpg|alt=Poshumous Alexander the Great tetradrachm from|thumb|Posthumous Alexander the Great tetradrachm from Temnos, Aeolis. Dated 188–170 BC. Obverse: Alexander the Great as Herakles facing right wearing the nemean lionskin. Reverse: Zeus seated on throne to the left holding eagle in right hand and scepter in left; in left field PA monogram and angular sigma above grape vine arching over oinochoe; ALEXANDROU vertical in right field. Reference: Price 1678.]]
The [[Hellenistic period]] was characterized by the spread of Greek culture across a large part of the known world. Greek-speaking kingdoms were established in [[Egypt]] and [[Syria]], and for a time also in [[Iran]] and as far east as what is now [[Afghanistan]] and northwestern [[India]]. Greek traders spread Greek coins across this vast area, and the new kingdoms soon began to produce their own coins. Because these kingdoms were much larger and wealthier than the Greek city states of the classical period, their coins tended to be more mass-produced, as well as larger, and more frequently in gold. They often lacked the aesthetic delicacy of coins of the earlier period.

Still, some of the [[Greco-Bactrian]] coins, and those of their successors in India, the [[Indo-Greeks]], are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by [[Eucratides]] (reigned 171–145 BC), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king [[Amyntas Nikator]] (reigned c. 95–90 BC). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West" (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World").
<gallery>
File:Seleucus Nicator Ai Khanoum mint.jpg|alt=Seleucus Nicator (312–281 BCE), Ai Khanoum.|[[Seleucus Nicator]] (312–281 BC), [[Ai Khanoum]]<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=338684| title = CNG Coin 338684}}</ref>
File:Antiochos I Soter Ai Khanoum mint.jpg|[[Antiochus I]] (281–261 BC), [[Ai Khanoum]]
File:Coin of Antialkidas.jpg|Bilingual coin of [[Indo-Greek]] king [[Antialcidas]] (105–95 BC)
File:Coin of the Bactrian King Agathokles.jpg|Bilingual coin of [[Agathocles of Bactria]] with [[Hindu]] deities, c. 180 BC
</gallery>

==== Roman period (290 BC~) ====
{{further|Roman currency|Roman Republican currency|Aureus|Solidus (coin)|Denarius|Antoninianus|Sestertius}}
{{Coin image box 2 singles
| header =
| image_left = File:Crawford 13-1 Obverse.jpg
| image_right= File:Crawford 13-1 Reverse.jpg
| caption_left = '''[[Obverse and reverse|O:]]''' Bearded head of Mars with Corinthian helmet left.
| caption_right = '''[[Obverse and reverse|R:]]''' Horse head right, grain ear behind.
| width_left = 150
| width_right = 150
| position = right
| margin =4
| footer = The first Roman silver coin, 281 BC. Crawford 13/1
}}
Coinage followed Greek colonization and influence first around the Mediterranean and soon after to North Africa (including Egypt), Syria, Persia, and the Balkans.<ref name="Howgego1995">{{cite book|last=Howgego|first=C. J.|author-link=Christopher Howgego|title=Ancient history from coins|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RvEEynd4ZiQC&pg=PA1|access-date=4 December 2011|year=1995|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-08993-7|pages=1–4|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528083333/http://books.google.com/books?id=RvEEynd4ZiQC&pg=PA1|archive-date=28 May 2013}}</ref> Coins came late to the [[Roman Republic]] compared with the rest of the [[Mediterranean]], especially [[Ancient Greek coinage|Greece and Asia Minor]] where coins were invented in the 7th century BC. The [[currency]] of central [[Italy]] was influenced by its natural resources, with [[bronze]] being abundant (the [[Etruscans]] were famous metal workers in bronze and iron) and [[silver]] ore being scarce. The coinage of the Roman Republic started with a few silver coins apparently devised for trade with Celtic in northern Italy and the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, and heavy [[Casting (metalworking)|cast]] bronze pieces for use in Central Italy. The first [[Roman currency|Roman coins]], which were crude, heavy cast bronzes, were issued c. 289 BC.<ref>W. Sayles, Ancient Coin Collecting III: The Roman World–Politics and Propaganda, Krause Publications, Iola, Wisconsin, 1997</ref>
Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to about 550 BC in [[Populonia]], a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy.  In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia.<ref name="Giuseppe Amisano 1992 pp. 15-20"/>

<gallery>
File:PupienusSest.jpg|[[Sestertius]] of [[Marcus Clodius Pupienus Maximus]], AD 238
File:Flavian dynasty Aurei.png|Set of three Roman [[Aureus|aurei]] depicting the rulers of the [[Flavian dynasty]]. Top to bottom: [[Vespasian]], [[Titus]] and [[Domitian]], AD 69–96
File:MithridatesIParthiaCoinHistoryofIran.jpg|Silver [[Ancient drachma|Drachma]] of Mehrdad ([[Mithridates I of Parthia|Mithridates I]]) of Persian Empire of [[Parthia]], 165 BC
</gallery>