Section Public Life: “Mint” (Showcase 5)

Abderite Coins
Ancient coins are a means of learning about the economic life, i.e. the production and commercial activities and, in general, the prosperity and decline of a city-state. Regardless of this main function, from an artistic point of view, a lot of them are small masterpieces. Some of the finest coins of the ancient Greek world have been minted in Abdera.

The first Abdera coins were minted around 520/15 BC, and the last ones at the beginning of the 1st century BC. The autonomous coins are silver, gold and bronze. During the imperial period (1st - 2nd century AD), bronze coins were minted.

The symbol of Abdera, the griffin, is depicted on the obverse of the coins. The pictorial types on the reverse are associated with each master of the mint, whose names are systematically inscribed.
Silver coins of the 6th and 5th centuries BC were found in Egypt, Syria and Mesopotamia and are linked to trade relations, but also to the presence of the Persians in Thrace.