Period II. 480-336 B.C.—The finest period in Greek coinage begins after the Persian Wars and runs to the accession of Alex ander the Great in 336 B.C. The first half of this period is transitional and is marked by a great advance in technical skill, an increased delicacy in the treatment of details and greater free dom of movement in the treatment of the human figure. In the last eighty years of this period the art of engraving coins reached the highest standard it has ever attained : the head of a divinity is now established as the obverse type and is usually represented in very high relief—many of the finest are shown facing ; the engravers sign their coins which show that they were artists of note and not mere artificers : the names of great artists other wise unknown have been thus preserved. The types are very varied and almost entirely based on local mythology, although latterly the fine bigae and quadrigae types became popular in allusion to Olympic victories. The type first introduced in Athens—obverse head of a deity and reverse badge of the city—grows increasingly popular and towards the end of the period is almost regular. In scriptions become general although still frequently contracted. The period is marked by a geographical extension of coining and an increase in its quantity; with the decline of the Persian empire, the cities of Asia Minor, Phoenicia and Syria show an increasing activity; the opening of the mints of Emporiae in Spain and Messalia in Gaul bring the art of coinage to the other end of the known world. Towards the end of the period the rise of Macedon under Philip II. led to the closing of many mints in northern Greece, and his coinage foreshadows the great imperial coinages of Alexander the Great. The second half of the 5th century wit nesses a great expansion of the monetary influence of Athens at the expense of her allies.
The coinage of the period is mainly silver; the Aeginetic stand ard gradually yields to the Attic : electrum disappears except at Lampsacus and Cyzicus and sporadically at Syracuse and Car thage. Gold is continued in the darics of the Persian kings in the east and in the fine series of Lampsacene staters (Pl. I.-io) ; with the decline of Persian power the Great King's monopoly of gold was usurped by various rulers in Cyprus and Caria. The late 5th and 4th century gold coinages of Syracuse, Tarentum and Cyrene are extensive. Towards the end of the period we have the insti tution of Philip II.'s gold stater, the first great gold coinage of the world. In the latter part of the 5th century the first copper coins were issued and soon drove out the infinitesimal small silver coins which had hitherto served as small change.
The greatest commercial currency of the 5th century was the silver coinage of Athens, as contemporary references and the huge finds still made all around the Mediterranean show. It was imitated in Central Asia and Arabia which shows the extent of its penetration. The Corinthian stater continued to be an im portant coinage although its circulation was more limited. The same is true of Cyzicene staters : these great currencies remain more conservative than their contemporaries which are not affected by the same commercial considerations; care is taken to avoid the slightest change, hence the long survival of the now obsolete koppa on the coins of Corinth or the archaic use of E for H at Athens.
The feature of the period is the development of the general type—head of a deity on obverse and reverse, the badge of the city—which usually has some reference to the deity also. We find the latter prevailing in time so that when the old type has no reference to the deity chosen, it is dropped. The gradual aban donment of these old types gave a freer choice to the artist and the simple figures of animals, plants, fabulous animals, etc., give way to mythological groups. Symbols begin to appear on coins and are usually the marks of magistrates or otherwise mark the issues and change constantly. Occasionally we find the old badge of the town relegated to a subordinate position, like the tunny fish at Cyzicus. Names of towns and magistrates are written at greater length and those of artists begin to appear. Types are occasionally labelled like the Zeus at Locri Epizephyrii or the Ajax at Locri Opuntii.
Confederacy of Delos while nominally retaining their monetary rights bowed to the practical advantages of a common coinage— which was that of Athens. The fine quality of its silver, the accuracy of its weights and its numerous subdivisions made the Athenian tetradrachm welcome everywhere so that Athens gained the monetary hegemony in addition to the political. In 453 Aegina became tributary to Athens, which at once put a stop to the issue of the "tortoises" and the stater of Aegina practically dis appeared from the international market where it had so long competed with the "owls." Eretrea on its conquest in 445 lost its right of coinage as did its neighbour Carystus. Tenos, Naxos and other Aegean islands also ceased coining. In Asia Minor, Miletus, Cnidos and other tributaries of the Confederacy issued only small change.
One notable exception is that of Melos, which had refused to enter the League and therefore could still continue its staters. Samos and Lesbos kept up their issues but they were allies of equal status to Athens; Ephesus which entered the Confederacy in 469 continued to coin silver till 46o, but there was seemingly some special arrangement in this case. Aeolis, Mysia, and Troas only struck small change. Several towns of the south coast of Thrace, like Abdera, continued their coins but these with their different standards did not compete with those of Athens in the markets of the Aegean. Phocaea, Mytilene and Cyzicus continued their electrum in the 5th century but their silver ceases. The Athenian tetradrachms thus became predominant in the Aegean and beyond, completely ousting local currencies. If we occasion ally find autonomous staters, it is a sign of rebellion or shows that the town in question entered the League with special reserva tions. With the first news of the disasters in Sicily a general defection began and the days of the economic supremacy of Athens were soon over. The Spartans seized the mines of Laurium in 413 and cut off the supply of silver. In 407 Athens was reduced to such financial straits that the gold statues of Victory from the Parthenon were melted down for an emergency coinage ; in the next year she had to have recourse to a coinage of bronze which had an unfavourable reception as it could not, like the infini tesimal silver pieces, be carried in the mouth. After being almost extinct, Athenian coinage revived after Conon's successes in 394. On the formation of the second League against Sparta, her allies however struck coins on equality with Athens and used a common type of the infant Hercules with their own re verses and their own standards. Such staters are known of Ephesus, Cnidus, Rhodes, Samos, Cyzicus and other islands and towns of Asia. This diversity of standard in the League shows that there was no monetary convention. Among the rising coin ages of this period one of the chief was that of Rhodes (Pl. I.-15) founded in 408. Its silver and gold coins have the punning type of the rose and head of Helios. Rhodes had its own standard and its rapidly increasing commerce spread its coinage and standard quickly in the Mediterranean. In 376 Athens regained her he gemony over the islands but for a generation only. Her coinage again became abundant but never regained a predominance over the numerous local coinages which had sprung up since the end of the 5th century. In addition to Rhodes the important mints of Amphipolis and Larissa begin to issue their beautiful coins and many smaller towns open their numismatic history. The ancient coinages of Samos and Chios disappear before Athenian vengeance in the middle of the 4th century but other towns of Asia and the islands, Cnidos, Ephesus, Tenedos, and notably Cyzicus, testify in their coins to the great prosperity which their autonomy brought them. Corinth and its colonies continued to issue their staters of the old types uninterruptedly up to their conquest by Philip II. and even then did not lose the right of coinage. With this exception however the great revival of autonomous coinage in the early 4th century was short-lived. Philip II. (Pl. 1.-12) became politically supreme, and economically his gold and silver mines enabled him to drive the gold of Cyzicus and the silver of Athens from the market, but the Attic standard was to survive in the tetradrachm of Alexander. In 404 the people of Aegina of ter half a century of exile returned to their homes to resume the issue of their celebrated staters but replaced the turtle of the obverse by a tortoise.