On average, how long were ancient coins in circulation?

I am interested in acquiring a coin depicting the Temple of Artemis in ancient Ephesus. Wikipedia tells me that the Temple was built around 550 BC, destroyed by Herostratus in 356 BC, rebuilt in 323 BC, and destroyed in AD 262 by the Goths.

(Alternate reference to all 7 Wonders of the Ancient World at Wikipedia)

Concurrently, I am interested in obtaining a relatively inexpensive coin that would have been in circulation during the early 1st century AD in Ephesus.

Now for my question.

If I want to kill two birds with one coin, how far back in time could I go?

E.g., if I find a coin from the 1st century BC, is there is a decent chance it was still in use a hundred years later? What about 2nd century BC? 3rd? etc.

 

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Which denomination and from which mint are you wanting to acquire this coin? To answer that for any coin in circulation at the time would require an answer several pages long at best.

 

I don't particularly care about the denomination or the mint. I just want it to have been in circulation while the Temple was still standing. If it depicts the actual Temple that's a bonus.

If it was still in use in the early 1st century AD, then double bonus.

 

Unless you are talking about the original temple, this should fit the bill.

 

To answer the question, it would vary greatly how long coins stayed in circulation. For precious metal coins, it would depend on their purity and purity of current coins.

I have seen hoards all within 10 years of each other, when there was debasement occurring, or have seen other hoards where coins 200 years apart circulated together.

 

https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/ge...s_ionia_septimius_severus/226483/Default.aspx

 

When times were good, coins could circulate for over 100 years.

For example, the widows mite was probably minted 100 years before the story supposedly took place.

It is also not uncommon to find hoards from the 2nd Century AD containing Roman Republic denarii mixed in among all the Imperial era coinage.

And when times were bad such as in times of war and hyperinflation/debasement, coins disapeared from circulation quickly. Which is why we have so many Gordian III and Philip I coins

 

If you have a bigger budget: https://www.vcoins.com/en/stores/pr...d_pergamon_ad_138161_rare/665970/Default.aspx

 

I am so glad that many coins were never circulated or used for commerce. This way, we today have beautifull mint state examples to admire in our collections
I am always waiting for new hoards to be found. Also, thankfully, there were coin collectors back then that preserved them, so that today we have them in our present coin albums.

 

I don't know about "on average," but, the Reka Devnia hoard had coins from the time of Marc Antony to, Herennius Etruscus, largely concentrated on the 2nd century. So, it's reasonable to guess that coins could circulate for 100+ years provided there's no reason for them to be withdrawn from circulation (debasement, etc.)

 

Had I been around circa 190-270 AD, I would have "put aside" for my coll. some of the freshly struck denari/aurei 100 percent

 

I can't say I agree. I have some coins bordering on, or actually what you refer to as Mint State, and they don't feel quite right. Something about a minty fresh 2,000 year old coin just seems wrong. A little wear, and a little toning really makes them feel just right. I'm a big fan of VF to XF, but after purchasing 3 or 4 "Mint State" I now tend to stay away from them.

But to each his own, I guess.

I'm actually trying to convince myself to go even as low as F on some coins just because their VF and XF versions are $500+, while the F version is $100 or so, and I really don't want to sink much more than $500 on a coin (it's a psychological thing).

 

The length of coin circulation varied with time, quality of the coin and who was in power.
I have seen where the widows mites circulated for centuries. These were light weight bronzes that traded by wieght.
In reports of hoards from Republican Rome, it was common for coins 100 years apart to be in one hoard.
The denarius of Brutus, the EID MAR, were collected and melted. I assume that is why there are so few today.
Mark Anthony's legionary denarii were low weight and poor silver. They circulated well into the imperial era.
The silver content of the denarius dropped from 2.7 grams at the time of Antoninius Pius to 1.5 grams during Gordian III. I suspect old coins were hoarded or melted during this 100 years.

 

if i can't take it with me.. i ain't goin'...

 

I have gone through a couple ancient Chinese hoards, one from ~500-550 AD and the others from ~1150-1250 AD. In the first, I found some coins from 140 BC - 25 AD. In the others, I found coins going back to 618 AD. But I would think that is abnormal when compared to European coinages.

 

I was reading an account of a survey done in southern France in the early 19th century where a Roman coin was found in circulation. It is very possible with illiterate populations coming across older coins in the garden etc would just spend them.

 

there have been a few circumstances where Roman coins were reintroduced into circulation. I will quote from another post-

"From the article by Arthur E. Robinson, “False and Imitation Roman Coins,” The Journal of Antiquarian Association of the British Isles 2, no. 3 (1931) : 102.


In 1916, Robinson was in the Sudan, and his "Nubian" servant brought him some small coins which still circulated west of the Nile. An assortment of the coins consisted of--

Ptolemaic (2 specimens), BM cat. 106, 32-5; Svoronos 1426.
Hadrian (Alex.) BM cat. 346, 21; Dattari 6299.
Probus (Alex.) BM cat. 315, 2435; Svoronos 5557.
Diocletian, BM cat. 324, 2510; Dattari 5693.
Constantine I, not in BM cat.; Dattari 6054.
Turkish, Early Othmanli circ. A.D. 1000 (clipped).



"Coins struck under Constantine the Great (323-337AD) were still in circulation in remote places of southern France during Napoleon III. (1852-1870).”
(Friedensburg, Die Münze in der Kulturgeschichte, pg. 3)



In 1636, a bronze coin of Domitian (81-96AD) was countermarked during the monetary reform of Philip IV, ruler of Spain.
(Blanchet, Sur la chronologie établie par les contremarques 1907)"

 

Sallent....I think you are bang on. It is a psychological thing/ I love coins that are perfect, have original lustre, no wear, no defects....i guess it is in my DNA. However, I would not go as far as some collectors, who pay 60K for a MS-68 Double Eagle that would go for 15K in MS-67. I am happy with a MS-65 which equals European grade mint state In Roman coinage a CNG graded supberb EF is in my book a perfect coin. The US Pogue Collection was built up by a very select collector....If I had that kinda $....I would do the same, but with Roman aurei/denari. But in the end, we all collect for the love of the hobby

 

Yes, there are many instances of coins being found dug up and recirculated. However, based on wear data from things like Barber and Lincoln cents in the US, most coins will simply disappear or become unrecognizable lumps after a certain period of constant circulation. So, the answer for coins in constant circulation my guess would be around 100 years or so. After that, they literally are nothing more than smooth round pieces of metal.

So I guess it would depend on what the OP meant by "in circulation". Do you mean the predominant coins most people rely on daily? This would mean within 100 year mintage of current issues. If he meant what MIGHT be found in circulation, it could be nearly anything before the advent of coin collecting. I hear that in the late 1960's silver coins of Peroz, (5th century Sassanian), were still circulating in Afghan markets. Before coin collectors, any coin found would just be spent, since that was its only real value.

 

One thing is for certain, none of the coinage in circulation anywhere now will still be circulating in the next 50 years. Our civilisation must have advanced, but money has lost it's tangible value in the last 100 years.