Ancient Greek Coins of Miletus

Robert J. O’Hara (rjohara@post.harvard.edu)

The ancient Greek city of Miletus in Asia Minor, on what is now the west coast of Turkey, was the intellectual and commercial center of the Greek world in the century before Athens rose to prominence. It has been called the birthplace of the modern world. These pages discuss the early history of coinage and present a detailed outline of Milesian coin types from the Greek and Roman periods.

PAGES: Illustrated table of contents—Illustrated numerical catalogue—History and weight standards—Chronological table—The electrum lion coins of the kings of Lydia (1)—The enigmatic “geometric” electrum series (1)—The sixth-century electrum lion coins of Miletus (2)—The electrum and silver lion/scorpion issues (3)—The silver eye-swirl/quincunx fractions (12)—The dotted lion-mask series (7)—The archaic twelfth-stater series (21)—The silver Milesian-style lion/bird fractions (14)—The lion-head/lion-scalp series (2)—Milesian imitatives of Hecatomnus, Mausolus, and Hidrieus (2)—The fourth-century bronze lion/sun series (3)—The Rhodian silver and bronze Apollo/lion series (7)—Early silver and bronze of Alexander the Great (5)—The reduced-Rhodian didrachms and their parallel bronzes (3)—The later Diadochian and civic Alexander types (2)—The third-century Persic silver and bronze Apollo/lion series (2)—The bronze facing-Apollo coinage (6)—The second-century silver Apollo/lion issues (5)—The wreathed bronze Apollo/lion series (8)—The bronze Apollo of Didyma series (2)—Provincial bronzes of Nero (2)—Provincial bronzes of Domitian (1)—Provincial bronzes of Faustina the Younger (1)—Provincial bronzes of Gordian III (1)—The Ottoman silver akçes of fifteenth-century Balad (1)—References and literature cited—Ancient coin resources online.

(1) Ancient Coin Information: General Online Resources

This is just a sampling of the many excellent ancient coin resources that are available online, emphasizing those that cover the whole field or that focus on the coinage of Greece, Asia Minor, and Miletus specifically. The links on these pages will take you to many other helpful resources.

• American Numismatic Society — Including the ANS collections database.
• Anatolian Coins — Excellent site on the later Turkic and Turkoman coins of Asia Minor, from Mehmet Eti.
• Ancient Coin Catalogues — Warren Esty’s guide to ancient coin auction and sale catalogues, many of which are important reference works.
• Ausgrabungen in Milet — Reports on the ongoing program of excavations at Miletus, from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (in German).
• The Celator — The leading popular periodical about ancient coins.
• Coinage of Ephesus — Online exhibit of coins from a neighbor city of Miletus, hosted by the Australian Centre for Ancient Numismatic Studies. (See also a lengthy Ephesian thread on forumancientcoins.com.)
• Coins of Miletos — A fine page of Milesian coins, from Swiss numismatist Roland Müller.
• Coins of Miletos (and of Miletus) — Excellent listing of recent coin auctions, from Coinarchives.com. (The listing of uncertain Milesian-standard coins is also of interest.)
• Coins of Miletos — Another useful listing of recently auctioned coins, from Wildwinds.com, with links to many organizations and ancient coin dealers on the main page.
• Dating the Coinage of Alexander the Great — An online introduction by Zoë Sophia Kontes. (See also Reid Goldborough’s general introduction to Alexander’s coinage.)
• Digital Historia Numorum, Ionia — An outstanding electronic transcription of the British Museum numismatic catalogues, from Ed Snible.
• Digital Photography of Coins — Doug Smith’s excellent coin photography pages, including a beautiful page on Greek silver fractions.
• Lion Coins — Reid Goldsborough’s fine essay about lions on Greek coins, including the lion coins of Miletus and the electrum lion coins of ancient Lydia.
• Miletus (from Perseus) — Comprehensive overview of the history of the city from the Perseus Project database.
• Miletus: Cradle of Philosophy — Excellent essay on Miletus by travel writer Jørgen Wouters.
• The Miletus Museum [link now gone] — The public museum in Turkey devoted to Miletus. (Known also as “The Museum of Goats” for having been closed for several years, robbed, and used to house farm animals.)
• Miletus Theater Specifications — Architectural analysis and photographs of the Roman theater at Miletus.
• Reconstructing Miletus — Three-dimensional reconstructions of ancient Miletus using VRML. (Link often unavailable.)
• Roman Provincial Coinage Online — An important and growing database, sponsored by the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford University. (A number of Milesian coins have already been included.)
• Royal Numismatic Society — Publishers of The Numismatic Chronicle.
• Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (comprehensive listing) — Reid Goldsborough’s guide to the volumes published in the authoritative Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum series.
• Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum (British volumes) — Searchable database of the original British SNG series, sponsored by the British Academy and documenting major collections of ancient Greek coins in the British Isles.
• The Temple of Apollo at Didyma — Descriptive article from the Encyclopaedia Romana.
• Prof. Vanessa Gorman — Classicist at the University of Nebraska specializing in Miletus.

(2) Ancient Coin Information: Bulletin Boards and Discussion Groups

• Asia Minor Coins — Online discussion group supporting the website asiaminorcoins.com
• Ancients.info — A non-commercial gallery and forum for students of ancient coins and ancient history.
• Coin Origins Group — Low-volume discussion group about the origins of coinage.
• Early Electrum Coinage — Online discussion group about the early electrum coins of Ionia and adjacent areas.
• Forvm’s Classical Numismatics Board (and its Greek section) — Sponsored by Forvm Ancient Coins.
• Islamic Coins Group — Active online discussion group about medieval Islamic coinage, including the early Selçuk and Ottoman coins of western Anatolia.
• Moneta-L — High-volume conversation group about ancient coins.