In the French collection, however, there is a complete sequence of Attie gold coins, consisting of a stater, drachm or hemistater, triobolun, diobolon, °bolos, and lierniobolon, supposed to have been issued about the tiro of Pericles ; geld obols of Argos, of l6.5 gra ; triobolon of Caryntun, with head of Hercules and a bull, of gra.; others of Aetolia, on the Attie standards, a triobolon of Ilkeotia, of 59'75 gra., and a drachm of Acarnania, are known. But the principal ancient gold coins aro, the Doric, of 129 gra, with an archer and incuse square, worth 15-20 Attie drachms—the coins with which the Persians bribed the orators of Athens and B000tia ; the 'stater of Cyziens, worth (n.c. 35a) 2S Attic drachma, and mentioned as the monthly pay of a soldier by Xenophon, with the adjunct of a fish as its normal type ; the stater of Phocea, of 138 gra., and distater of 27G gra., and subuiultiplea, tetarte 4tir, liekte and ireaihei•ta A, worth S obols; staters of Lainpsacus, with the head of Poseidon or Priapus, and the winged sea•hurse, of 129 gra.; and at Cyrene, gold octodrachtos or tetrastaters, and the large issues of staters and its multiples by Philip Mend his successors, on a standard of 133 gra. ; and the large gold dekiulrachms, tetra drachms, pentadrachms, and other pieces of the Ptolemies. Many of these later pieces of Ionia, in the finest style of the art, are of electrum, and were issued as aubmultiples-of an electrum stater. The Largest piece was the 16-staters of Lysitnachus.
The Greek autonomous silver coins have been divided into three periods, the first from n.c. S95 to 471, from Pheidon of Argos, or the Lydians, to Alexander I., of Macedon, the type simple and monstrous, often only animals, inscriptions short and monosylLabie, pieces thick and globular, engrailed rings like borders of Etruscan scarabwi, the reverses with hollow squares made by striking on a jagged die. 2. From Alexander I., B.C. 478, to Philip II. the art is much improved, the shape flatter and thinner, the inscriptions mere complete, types aro introduced on the reverse in the hollow square, which disappears under Amyntas III., B.C. 371 ; the types aro surrounded by an engniiled ring. 3. From Amyntas Ill., to B.C. 100, about 300 years, the finest period of the arts, types on obverse and reverse complete, the age of Phidias, Zeuxis, Polygnotu.s, and Praxiteles, names of magistrates and engravers appear; portraits are introduced by the successors of Alexander the Great. This is also a great epoch for gem engraving. Greek gold and copper coins fall into this period. 4. With the rise of the Roman power the gold and silver disappear, a few imperial mints, such as Ciesarea in Cappadocia, Antioch, Ainisus, and Tarsua alone con tinuing to have the privilege of striking either Roman denarii or larger pieces till tire time of Hadrian. The mint of Alexandria struck silver or potin, till the time of Gallicnus. The letters follow the rule of
inscriptions, the titles are pompous. In this last period only copper was coined with the name of the cities.
The principal coins which have been found are, the dekadrachrus, or large silver coins of Athens; the dekadnichms, or Syracusae medal. lions; octodrachms of Macedonia,the Athenian tetradrachms, called the stater or Attieus—a long series extensively imitated by other cities and by princes; the didrachnis of tligina and Corinth; the drachms used all over Greece and Asia Minor ; the tetrobolon or drachm ; the triobolon, or hemidraclun ; the diobolon, or A drachm ; the trihemiobolon drachm ; the °bolos, ore drachm, struck by cities prior to the introduc tion of copper; the hemiobolon, 6r drachm ; .and the obolos, or drachm ; and ,1 obolos, drachm, the smallest of all silver coins struck at Athens. in the Attic standard, the drachm weighed gra., and the totr•adrachnr and of this coin, the dollar of antiquity, called the yiati/ Aaupneroci, or lAurian owl,' from the mines of silver, and the type, 4 went to the gold stater, or chrysos; 25 to the mna, and 150 to the talent. Of these tetradrachms, which are the monetary standard of immure of antiquity, there are two types, the archaic coin, with the head of the archaic Athena, and the reverse an owl and olive branch, which continued till almost the ago of Alexander ; and those of later than his reign with the lielmed head of Athene of Pheidias, and the owl on an amphora, with the names of the three magis trates. These continued till tho age of Mithridates, and even of the Romans.
In all tire transactions of commerce, the drachm was the unit of value; the Attic standard was used at Corinth, Ammonia, Ampliike chin, Leucadia, Epirus, Acanthus, Sicily and Cyrene ; but under different forms, the Athenian coin was the tetradrachin, the Corinthian the didrachin—higher values are abnormal exceptions. The other stand ards were the sliginetan, consisting of 96 gra, introduced by Phcidon, from some Phcenician source, and the didraehms stamped with a tortoise which were called ehelonai, tortoises, or paehriai, thick, by the Athenians ; they prevailed in Bceotia, Elia, Sicyon, Argos, Ettlxo., Locris, and some of the isles. The other principal drachm was the Macedonian of 58 gra., which was used till the time of Alexander the Great, who substituted the Attic standard. Of Chios, there were penta dmehins, of '236 gra., supposing tire drachm to have been about 47 gra. But the fact is, that it is still requisite to study the monetary history of each Greek state per se, as tire currency was always slightly changing according to political circumstances and the rate of value, and the ancients had not probably the trial per pyx, or even a very accurate manner of determining the weight of their pieces, the irregular shapes of which offered tempting facilities for filing or paring.