workshops or mines / [margaret thompson]

8/18/2019 Workshops or mines / [Margaret Thompson]

1/17

THE

AMERICAN

NUMISMATIC

SOCIETY

MUSEUM

NOTES

V

THE

AMERICAN NUMISMATIC

SOCIETY

BROADWAY AT

56TH

STREET

NEW YORK

952

This content downloaded from 83.85.134.3 on Fri, 05 Feb 2016 10:19:41 UTCAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions


2/17


3/17

WORKSHOPS OR MINES

(See

Plate

XI)

One of the

many problems

of the Athenian

New

Style

coinage

concerns

a series

of

letter combinations

appearing

on

the

reverses of

all

except

the earliest of the

spread

flan tetra-

drachms.

These consist

usually

of

two letters

-

although

there

may

be

three

or

even

four

-

placed

below

the

amphora

or

occasionally

in

the

left field.

The tabulation

on

page

34,

showing

the distribution of the various

combinations

through-

out the

New

Style period

and the number

of annual issues

with which each is

associated,1

makes

it clear that

these are

the initial letters of words and that they refernot to individ

uals but to

something

of a

permanent

nature.

No

publication

of the

New

Style

series has discussed

the

letter combinations in

any

detail,

but there is

general agree-

ment that

they

stand either for the

workshops

of

the

Athenian

mint or for the mines from which

the

silver came.

The first

theory

was

apparently

held

by

M. L.

Kambanis

whose articles

on die

sequences2 consistently

use the term atelier

for the

1The ompilationsbasedn riginals,asts nd hotographsf ver ,000 ew tyle

tetradrachms.

undwall's

isting

U

iter

uchungen

ber ie ttischenünzenes eueren

Stiles,

908, p.24-148)

nd hat

f

voronos

Trésor

esmonnaies

Athènes,

ndex

as

prepared

y ick)

upply

few

ombinations

hich ave ot

been

ncluded.

ome

can

becorrectedrom

hematerial

ow nhand

others

nvolve

trange

nd omewhat

suspicious

eadings

hich

re etter

mitted

or

he ime

eing,

ending

uture

erifica-

tion r

mendation.

heres

possibility

hat

O,

which

s

clearly

arkedn

wo

etra-

drachms

f

theAMMÍ2-AIO

cornucopiae)

ssue,

hould e listed

eparately,

ut t

seems

ore

ikely

hat he is a

carelessly

utZ.

With

espect

o he

TP ombination

it

s

mpossible

o

catalogue

t

accurately.

oth

TPnd

TIPO

occur n

dies

f

hree

issues

f he

arly

wo-magistrate

roup

TIP

nd

TTPÍÍ

re

sed

or ne

hree-magistrate

issue. ll

ther ies ave

TP

lone.

2

Arethusefase.1, 928, p.121-135;ulletine orrespondanceelléniqueLVI,1932,

PP-

7-59;

VIII,

1934, p.101-137;

IX,

1935, p.

101-1205

X,

1936,

p.101-117;

LXII,

1938, p.

60-84.

35



4/17

36

A. N. S. MUSEUM NOTES

TWO THREE

TWO

MONO- MAGIS-

M

AGIS-

MAGIS-

GRAMS

TRATES TRATES

7

RATES

(Early)

(Late)

AN

4

i 2

i

ATT,

ATTO

-

2

i6 8

AP 2

2

i i

TA

2

AA

- -

2

2

AH

5

i

Al,

AIO

-

i

i6

13

EM,

EM

CD

-

3

En,

Eni 2

EP

3

_

2

s

EY 3 s

HP,

H

PA

2

3

6

OY i

121

7

KE

KT,

KTH 2

ME,

MEN,

MENE

2

5 36

MH

5

4

MO - i - -

FIE,

ĪTEP

-

-

16

2

FTP,

TTPO,

TTPÍ2

2422

ZO,

20

A

-

-

22 i

ZT,

ZTE

2

ZO, ZOA,

ZOAI

4

2

26

-

ZÍ2

-

5

18 10

ti,

Tir

2

OI - - - i or2



5/17

WORK SHOP S OR MINE S

3

7

markings

beneath the

amphora.

On

the

other

hand

Sundwall

{op.

cit.,

p.

1

8,

note

2)

and

Svoronos

(

Journal

international

d'archéologie numismatique

XVIII,

1917, p.

119) preferred

to

regard

the

letters as related to

the mines

supplying

the

bullion

for the

coinage.

Early

in

195

1 the American Numismatic

Society

was

fortunate in acquiring the casts of New Style tetradrachms

which

Kambanis

had assembled

for

his

studies.

This collection

has

provided

the writer with

the

basic material

for a further

attempt

at

arranging

the New

Style

coinage

by

die combina-

tions and other

criteria.

As a

preliminary

step

all of

the

annual

issues were sorted

by

obverse

and

reverse

dies,

and in

the

course

of

this

undertaking

it became

increasingly

evident

that

the

workshop

theory

is untenable.

It seems

worthwhile

to

discuss this at

some

length

in

advance

of

the

general study

since the

problem

is in a

sense a

separate

one

with less

bearing

on the

chronological

classification

than has sometimes

been

supposed.

At

the

very

beginning

of the

division

by

obverse

dies,

an

interesting

fact

emerged.

The same obverse

is

frequently

coupled

with

reverses

bearing

totally

different

etter

combina-

tions beneath the

amphora.

For the

most

part

only

two

combinations are

involved,

but

in

nine annual

issues,

there

are three combinations connected with the one obverse, and

one issue

-

that of

EüirENH

-

SíiZANAPOZ

-

has four This

last instance is

most remarkable.

During

the

month

E

while

HAIOAO

was

third

magistrate,

one obverse

die

(No.

15)3

was

struck

in

conjunction

with

at least six differentreverse

dies: one marked

with

TIP

(Schlessinger

Sale

13,

1935,

No.

934;

Plate

XI,

1),

one

with

AIO

(Paris;

Plate

XI,

2),

two

with

3

Throughout

he rticle

eferenceasbeen

made

y

number

o

specifiç

bverse

nd

reverseies. hishasbeen one o avoidmbiguityncertainnstances.he esigna-

tions

epresent

he

resent

tate

f he ie

lassification

nd re

not inaln

ny

ense.



6/17

38


ME

(Paris;

Plate

XI,

3.

Also De

Luynes

No.

2082),

and

two

with

H PA

and

HP

(Vienna;

Plate

XI,

4.

Also

London).

In

all

there are

179

obverse

dies

associated with

different

reverse

markings,

and

this

phenomenon

occurs

throughout

the New

Style

series

-

for

every

one

of the

three-magistrate

issues,

for

all

five

of the

monogram

issues

which

have

letters

below the amphora, for all but two of the early two-magistrate

group

and for

five of the late

two-magistrate

issues.

Moreover,

with

eleven

exceptions,

the

variations

are

concentrated

within

the

span

of a

single

month.4

Assuming

that the

letters refer to

officinae,

t is

difficultto

understand the

restlessness

of obverse dies

at the Athenian

mint,

particularly

difficult to see

why

Die

15

of

ETTirENH-

ZQZANAPOZ

should

have been used for

part

of the

month

in

workshop

TIP,

then shifted to

AIO,

thence

to

ME

and

finally

to HP. The

only plausible

explanation

would be a

random

allocation of dies

to the various

workshops

on a

day

to

day

basis. Such a

supposition,

however,

is

in conflict

with

the

general

picture. Despite

the

frequency

with

which the

variations

occur,

they

are still

exceptions

rather

than the

rule.

Ordinarily

an

obverse die from

its first

striking

was

associated with one

particular

combination of

reverse letters

and this

relationship

remained

constant,

with

perhaps

an

occasional minor lapse, for the lifetime of the die.5 An out-

standing

case

in

point

is Die 2

of TTOAEMÍ2N-AAKETHZ

which

4

understandhat .

H.

Armstrong

as

ndependently

ade he

ame

bservation

regarding

he se f

ne

bverseiewith

aried

everseetters.e s now

ublishing

New

tyle

oard

t

the

Royal

ntario

useum

nd

has

generously

ade

hotographs

of

hismaterial

vailable.

6

This acted

Kambaniso

tateArethuse

1928,

.

130),

Cette

arenté

es

monnaies

ne

e

retrouvant

as

entre

es

missions

yant

es

igles

ifférents,

l en

résulte

ussi

que

chaque

igle

evait

ppartenir

xclusivementun

atelier."t

is a

remarkable

circumstancehat

ll of

he

inks

within

nd

betweenssues s noted

y

Kambanis

involveoinswith he amemarkingseneathhe mphora,ut hese annow e

supplementedy

many

thers

hich

ave

iverseetterombinations.



7/17

WORKSHOPS OR MINES

39

was combined

during

the first

five

months of the

year

with

fourteen

different everses. n one instance

the

letter

combina-

tion is

illegible;

the other thirteen reverses

are

consistently

marked

IQ.

Furthermore,

the

letters,

whatever their

import,

must

have

served some control function or there

would have

been little

reason

for

adding

them

to the

reverses,

less rea-

son still for recutting them as was often done. A monetary

control of itself

necessarily

entails a careful

supervision

of dies

or its

purpose

is

vitiated.

A considerable

amount of additional evidence

against

the

workshop

theory

is

provided

by

individual

and

chronologically

related issues

as

well

as

by

the

pattern

of

the letter combina-

tions

throughout

the New

Style

coinage.

Let us

consider

first

some of the

irregularities

within individual

issues which

are

not

easily

reconciled with

the

workshop premise.

For the

early

months of the

KAPAIX-EPTOKAE

magistracy

at least

seven

anvil

and thirteen

punch

dies

were

in

opera-

tion as

follows:

TIMO

(A)

OEMI

(B)

Ai A2

A3

A4

As

A6

A7

Pi ME) P3(IO) Ps(IÜ) P7(ME) P8(ME) P9(ME) Pio(ME)

P2(ME) P4(2


8/17

40


month

B,

in

striking

contrast to the

practice

during

A

and

T.

One

might

suppose

that the

obverses were used

in succession

were

it

not that three of

them

carry

over

into the

following

month,

T.

A

somewhat

similar

picture

is

presented

by

the

initial

strikings

of AAMON-ZQZIKPATHZ:

KPITÜN (A)

Ai

Az

A3

A4

Pi(ME) Pi(ME)

P4(rTE>-

4(T7E)

P2(Z0)

P3(ME)

P5(nE)

KPITÍiN

(B)

Ai A2

A3

A4

A5

P6(Z0)

(ME) P8(ATT)

P9(ÏÏE) Pii(Arí)

P7(Z0)

Pio(ÏÏE)

The inclusion

of A 2

among

the dies of month

B,

even

though

no

example

has

as

yet

been

found,

is based

on

the

fact

that

this

obverse with a

ME

reverse

is known

for

T

and

was,

there-

fore,

almost

certainly

in

use

during

the

preceding

month.

For

the

rest,

four

obverse dies are

in

operation

at the

beginning

of

the year, two with ME and two with TTEreverses. Later Ai,

its

ME

reverse

having

been

transferred to

A2,

shifts to the

ZO

lettering.

A

similar

change

may

have

taken

place

in the

course of this first

month

with

respect

to

A3,

but

there

is no

present

record

of

an

A-ATT

combination

coupled

with that

obverse.

During

B

the

system

is

orderly

throughout,

with

A5

replacing

A3

at some

point

and

taking

over

the latter's

letter

combination.

The recutting of the letters beneath the amphora, which is

common

practice

for

many

of the

three-magistrate

issues,

is



9/17

WORKSHOPS OR MINES

41

not

fundamentally

inconsistent with the

workshop

theory,

but there

are

exceptional

cases. Obverse Die

14

for the

annual

issue of

ZfìlAOZ-EYANAPOZ

is used

only

during

month

M.

Four

specimens

with identical

obverse and reverse dies

have survived.

On two coins

the

letter

combination

is

20

;

on the

others

SO

has been cut over the

20. Then

there is the

last month of the

AOPOAIZI-AIOrE issue:

«DAI

N

NOZ

(M)

A9

Aio

Aii

A12

A13

Píšící)) P34(AI) P36ÍME)

P35(AI)

-

P35(AI) P37(ME)

p38(ME)

-

P38(I


10/17

42

A. N.

S.

MUSEUM NOTES

variety

occurs

precisely

where one

would

least

expect

it,

on.

the

early

and late issues whose

output

was

relatively

light.

In

this

respect,

the

table on

page 34

is somewhat

misleading.

Many

of the combinations listed

under the

three-magistrate

heading

are found

only

at

the

beginning

or

at the end

of

the

group.

The central core of the

three-magistrate

series,

whose

issues supply the bulk of the New Style coinage, uses exactly

seven

letter combinations

:

ATT, I,

ME,

TIE,

ZO,

2

nd

20. For

34

of

the

45

annual issues

the

markings

are drawn

exclusively

from this limited

selection.

As

an

example

of

the

disparity

between

the number of letter

combinations in use and the

size

of the individual

issue,

the

coinage

of

AHMHTPIOZ-AT AOlfīTTOI

is of

particular

interest.

This was

evidently

a

very heavy

striking.

It is

well

represen-

ted in the

material

on hand and it contributes the

largest

number of

pieces

of

any

issue to

the

Halmyros

Hoard.

Even

more

significantly,

ts

annual

output required

at

least

thirty-

six obverse dies

-

about twice the normal

number and

eight

more than are

known

for

any

other issue. The

marked

pecu-

liarity

of this emission

is the

simultaneous

employment

of three

different third

magistrates

for certain months

of the

year.6

ATT

has the

longest

tenure;

his

reverse

dies

are known

for

months

A

through

M.

Ol

appears

for

A,

B,

A,

E,

and

I.

O AY

is recorded for E and H. On some reverses there is no third

magistrate

-

months

B,

E, H,

and

possibly

K

-

but

it is

likely

that the omission is a result

of haste in

cutting

the

dies or

of an understandable confusion

in the mind of

the

engraver

as to which of the three officials

was

responsible.

At first t seemed

as

though

this excess

of third

magistrates

6

This

xtraordinary

eparture

romhe

general

ractice

s

recorded

y

Kambanis

(

BCH

LVIII,

1934,

p.

o6f.)

nd

s commented

pon

y

Bellinger

"The

Chronology

of heAttic ew

tyle etradrachms,"esperiaSuppl. III,p. i8f.).

n both

ublic-ationsmoremonthsregiven or D andOAYthan hematerialvailableo me

provides;

ndoubtedly

he

resent

isting

s

ncomplete.



11/17

WORKSHOPS OR MINES

43

implied

a

coinage

which stretched over

two

or three

years

under

AHMHTPIOI

and

ATAOITITTOI.

This,

however,

is

impos-

sible.

One

obverse

die,

No.

18,

joins

a

reverse

of

Ol

for

E

and

one of

O

AY

for

the

same

month. Somewhat

later,

during

I,

reverses

of

ATT

nd

01

share

the

same

obverse,

No.

27.

The

three

men

must have

carried

out their

duties

during

the course

of a single year. This would seem another indication of the size

of the

issue.

So

much

money

was

being

struck

that for certain

months two

or even

three

supervising

magistrates

were

needed.

Yet the

issue of

AHMHTPIOI-ArAOITTTTOI

makes

consistent

use of

only

five

letter

combinations:

ATT,

ME, MH,

TTE

nd

IO.7

Many

of

the

relatively

minor

issues

of

the

early

two-

magistrate

series

show

as

much,

if not

more,

variety.

A

final

argument

against

the

workshop

theory

can

be drawn

from issues which are

linked

by

identical

obverse

dies.

For

the

most

part

there

is a

substantial

correlation

in

letter

markings

for the

coinages

which

Kambanis

has

arranged

in

sequence,

but that is not true

of

the issues

of

KTHII-EYMA

and

AHMH-

IEPQ.

The

verified

letter

combinations

for

the two

years

are

as follows

KTHII-EYMA

-

EY, EMO,

ME,

TTP

AHMH-IEPQ

-

EY,

EMO, ME,

TTP,

N,

AI, HP,

OY,

MH, MO,

C

O

and

O,

C £2 nd Í2

There

would

seem

to be

little

difference

n the

output

of

the

two issues.

If

anything

KTHII-EYMA

with

thirteen

obverse

dies

in use and

forty-six

surviving

coins

has a

slight

edge

on

AHMH-IEPQ

with

thirteen

dies and

twenty-eight

known

speci-

mens.

Certainly

it is difficult

to see

why

the

latter would

have

required

eight

additional

workshops.

7

Afew

xamples

f Í2

re ited

y

Kambanis

nd

undwall.

n

view

f

he

ifficulty

f

distinguishingetweenOand fí

on

worn

oins nd

he act

hat

ot

ne

f

he

9specimensnhand howsclear ìi marking,he ombinations somewhatoubtful

and

hasbeen

mittedor he

resent.

4

Numismatic

otes



12/17

44


An even

more

striking

illustration

involves

the issues

of

MIKI-OECNDPA

nd

HPA-APIZTOO.

These

share

an obverse

die

and

this new

link

provides

the

connection

between

the

early

two-magistrate

and the

three-magistrate

series.

Ml KI-OEOOPA

M ME

(Kambanis

oll.;

Plate

XI,

5)

HPA-APIZTOO-nOAYX

A

-

(Paris;

Plate

XI,

6)

The first issue has five letter combinations: AP, ATT,ME, MH

and

2

;

the second

uses

three:

AN,

HP

and TA. In

this

instance

it is a

question

not

merely

of

adding workshops

but

of

the

closing

of five

at the end

of one

year

and

their imme-

diate

replacement

by

three

totally

different nes.8

If the letter

combinations

on

the New

Style

coinage

do

not

refer

to

workshops

of the

mint,

is there

any

justification

for

associating

them with

the silver

mines

? In

proposing

this

theory Sundwall and Svoronos cited the correspondence be-

tween

the

letterings

on

the coins

and

the names

of mines

at

Laurium

as

they

were

then known

from

inscriptions.

Since

that time new

epigraphical

evidence,

notably

a

long

series

of

poletai

records

of

mining

leases,

modifies

the

picture

some-

8

n

the

ase f

ny

articular

nnual

ssue

heres

always

he hance

hat

ur ecord

f

letter

ombinations

s

ncomplete.

till

t

seems

oubtful

hat

much

ew

material

ill

be added.

ambanis*

ew

Style

asts

nclude

699

ieces;

hese ave

een

upple-

mented

y

1516

pecimens

coins,

asts

nd

photographs)

ollected

y

the

writer.

Despitehe oublingf he vidence,herere omparatively

ewssues

hroughout

he

seriess a whole herehe ameetterombinationsonot ccurnbothots fma-

terial.

or

KTHII-EYMA

nd

for

PA-APIZTOO

he

markings

re

dentical.

ith

the

M

KI-OEOOPA

ssue,

ne ombination

ATT

is

not ound

n he

Kambanis

casts. undwalPs

isting

dds

othing

ew

or heast

ssue,

ut

tdoes

rovide

ifferent

combinations

or

THZI-EYMA

nd

HPA-APIZTOO.

or

he

irst,

N,

ENOandNE

are

given.

t

seems

uite

ossible

hat

he

NE

s a

misreading

or

ME,

while

N

and

E

NO,

f

hey

re

learly

isible,

ay

epresent

rrors

n

he

ngraver'sart,

M

nd

EMO

having

een

ntended.ith

espect

o

HPA-APIZTOO,

ne nstance

fME s

cited,

rom

he

IAN,

X,

1

06,

.

264,

nd

wo

f

ÍÍ,

from

openhagen

nd

Beulé.

The

only

neof

he hree hich

an

be checked

s

the

Copenhagen

iece

f

which

Kambanis

ad

cast.

he

ettering

s

poorly

reserved

nd

nearly

ff

lan,

ut

he

surviving

raceseem

oresemble

A

more

losely

han

Í2,

reading

hich

s

perhapssupportedy he acthat he ame bverseie susedwith secondeversehowing

a

clear

A.



13/17

WORKSHOPS OR MINES

45

what. At least eleven of the

monetary

combinations could

conceivably

be

identified with Laurium mines as

they appear

in the

Agora

inscriptions recently

published

by

Margaret

Crosby

(

Hesperia

, XIX,

1950,

pp. 189-312).9

AI"I(0) (Apolloniakon) HP(A)

(Heraikon)

AP

(Artemisiakon

r

Archegeteion)

KE

(Kerameikon)

AH (Demetriakon) KT(H) (Ktesiakon)

A

1(0)

(Dionysiakon

r

Dioskourikon)

TTP(O) (Prospaltiakon)

EP

(Hermaikon)


14/17

46

A.

N. S. MUSEUM NOTES

discovery

facilitated a

monetary

expansion

in the mid

second

century.10

There is this also to be said for an association of the coin

markings

with the

bullion

supply.

The

puzzling

inconsistencies

which invalidate the

workshop

theory

are

resolved.

The use of

the

same obverse die

with

different

reverse

letterings,

the

unusual instances of recutting, the distribution of the com-

binations

with

respect

to

adjoining

issues and to the

New

Style

series as a

whole

-

all are

intelligible

in terms of the

substitution of one lot of metal for

another.

It is not

enough

merely

to associate the letter

combinations

with the

bullion. The addition of mine names to

already

over-

crowded dies

purely

as

a

matter of record would be

meaning-

less

;

one must assume that the

designation

of

the

source of the

silver served

a definite

control

purpose.

At this time it

may

be

premature

to

hazard

any theory

as to how this control

operated,

but it

seems at least

possible

that it

involved both

the

purity

of

the

metal and an

over-all

accounting

system

on

the

part

of the

state.

When one considers the

stages

through

which the

silver

passed

from the time it left the

mines

until

it was turned over

to the

storage

vaults for issuance to the mint and

subsequent

striking,

t is clear that the

purity

of

the

bullion was

dependent

on the honesty and skill of many individuals. No magistrate

could

actively supervise

this

processing

in its

entirety.

Yet

the mint

official had the immediate

responsibility,

as the

state

had

the

ultimate

one,

for the

probity

of the

coinage.

Under

the

circumstances some

system

would be

required

whereby any

given

lot of

bullion could

be

traced back to

its

source.

Assuming

that the

ore from

any

one mine

went

10

t

would e

nteresting

o

ee

f

pectroscopicnalysis

f

large

umberfNew

tylecoinswouldhrowny dditionalightn differentourcesfmetal or he hree-

magistrate

eriod.



15/17

WORK SHOP S OR MINE S

47

through

definite

channels for the various

phases

of the

refining

process

and that

throughout,

it was

consistently

identified as

the

product

of that

particular

mine,

it would

then

have

been

relatively easy

to

control

the

quality

of the

metal.

Furthermore the same control marks

would

provide

the

state with a

complete

record as to how much

metal from

any

given mine went to the mint and how much coined silver was

delivered

in

return. So

many

ingots

of

bullion from Artemis-

iakon,

for

example, supplied

to a certain

Nikodēmos,

third

mint

magistrate during

month

A,

tallied

against

so

many

minae

of

AP

New

Style

tetradrachms.

With

a detailed and

comprehensive

accounting

such as

this,

the

possibilities

of

adulteration,

loss or defalcation

would

be held to an absolute

minimum.11

An identification of the letter

combinations

with the bullion

rather

than the

workshops

of the mint

makes

the

chronological

arrangement

of the

coinage

somewhat

more difficult

in

that

one can no

longer

assume that a coincidence

of

letterings

as

between issues

necessarily implies proximity

in

time.

There

is

11

Ravel

Les

"

Poulains

de Corinthe

II,

pp.

46-57)

uggests

somewhat

imilar

accountingystem

or he

mint fCorintht an

earlier

eriod.

n

fourth

entury

staters,

etters

hich

ay

e

the nitials

fmint

magistrates

re ombined

ith

wide

variety

f

ymbols.

oard

vidence

hows

hat

he ame fficialsed

ifferent

ymbols

on oins hichre ontemporarynd hat,herefore,he evicesannote

dentified

with nnualmissions.he heoryavel dvancess that hengotseliveredothe

mint

ere

tamped

ith

ymbolsorresponding

othose hich

ppeared

nthe oins

and hat he atter ere

ubsequently

hecked

y

weightgainst

he umber

f

ars

f

bullion

upplied

o the ndividual

int fficial.

hiswould

xplain

oth heuseof

different

ymbolsy

he ne

magistrate

nd lso

he ecurrence

f he ame

ymbol

n

issues

fdifferent

fficials,

nderhe

ssumption

hat

nmintedullion as

arried

over

rom

neman ohis uccessor.

A

stamped

ar f

ilver

rom

heTarentumoard

s cited

y

E.

J.

Seltmans

proof

f he

practice

f

marking

ullion

t a

very

arly

eriod.

n

the

oursef

he

article

J

AN,

XV,

191

,

pp.

-

10)

he

nterprets

he etters

f

he

lphabet

n

a

series

f

Thuriantaterss a

control

ystem

ased

n a correlation

f he

markings

on

ingots

nd coins. or a different

xplanation

f

similar

ettersn staters

f

Poseidonia,ee S. P.Noe, AGroupfDie-Sequencest Poseidonia,"p.9-19^1

the

currentssue

f Museum otes.



16/17

48

A. N. S. MUSEUM

NOTES

always

the

possibility

that

completely

different

sources

of

metal were

tapped

from

year

to

year.

Yet

in

a broader

sense

the letters are far more

significant

as a

record

of bullion

than

as an

indication of the

internal

set-up

of the Athenian

mint.

In

time,

with the

establishment of

a fixed

sequence

for

the

monetary

issues,

the

letterings

should contribute to our know-

ledge of the economic resources of Athens. Even now the out-

lines are

clear. If one

accepts

a

dating

around

196

b.c.

for the

beginning

of the

New

Style

coinage,12

the

monogram

and

early two-magistrate

series,

covering

a

period

of some

thirty

years

down to 166

b.c.,

were

dependent

on the

output

of a

considerable

number of

relatively unproductive

mines.

By

166

b.c.,

however,

the

exploitation

of new and rich

veins

re-

sulted in

a far

more

extensive

coinage

and

perhaps

stimulated

the

expansion

of

Athenian

commerce.

Toward the

end of the

century

the

situation had

deteriorated to such a

degree

that

the

mint was

again

forced to

scrape

together

silver

from

diverse

sources in

order to meet the

demand for Athenian

currency.

Margaret

Thompson

12

vidence or

his

ating

s

presented

n

pages 3 31

ofthe urrentumberf

Museum

otes



17/17

XI

WORKSHOPS

OR

MINES

workshops or mines / [margaret thompson]

Documents