The Twelve Cities

I think there should be separate lists for pre- and post-Alexander, and given Doug's original post I'm assuming he's aiming at pre-Alexander. Also, I figure a list of Greek cities should actually be Greek, i.e. predominantly Greek speaking. So none of that Carthage/Phoenician/Persian stuff!

The only one I think is a must that hasn't been mentioned is Thebes. All five of these are musts, IMO:
Athens
Syracuse
Corinth
Thebes
Sparta (hard to represent with a coin from the classical period; maybe Sikyon?)

Greece proper:
Aigina
Argos
Elis
Larissa (?)

Other candidates:
Samos
Ephesos
Miletos
Mytilene
Apollonia Pontika
Massalia
Abdera
Thasos?
Byzantion
Cyrene
Knossos
Pella?

That's a total of 21! Maybe Rhodes too, but its importance is primarily post-Alex.

Here's Thebes:

Stater, dated to 368-364 BCE. Thebes dominated all of Greece from 371-362.

 

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I would consider Antioch important.

Seleucus III
Mint: Antioch
AR Tetradrachm
226 to 223 BC
Obvs: Diademed head of Seleucus III r., with long sideburn, dotted border.
Revs: ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ on r., ΣΕΛΕΥΚΟΥ on l., Apollo, slight drapery on r. thigh, seated l. on omphalos, testing arrow and resting l. hand on grounded bow. Control marks in outer left and right fields
25mm, 16.82g
Ref: SC 921.1

 

I agree. Cities were the issuing authority before Philip/Alexander/Rome changed the name of the game. I was thinking of coins of the cities and not just regal mints located there.

 

Everyone agrees on Syracuse and I need an excuse to repost this one:


Philistis, wife of Hieron II.
Greek AR 5 litrae.
Syracuse 270-230 BCE, 4.46 gm, 18.1 mm.
Obv: Diademed and veiled head, l., palm branch behind.
Rev: ΒΑΣΙΛΙΣΣΑΣ ΦΙΛΙΣΤΙΔΟΣ, Nike driving biga to left, E in l. field.
Refs: SNG ANS 893; SNG III (Lockett) 1017; Forrer 196.

 

Now that is purdy cool...!

 

Surprised no one submitted Taras for Magna Grecia.



Taras, Calabria Didrachm

Naked youth galloping right on horseback left, crowning horse with right hand, monogram ΣY in field behind youth and ΛΥK INOΣ below horse

Taras seated on dolphin left, holding chalmys and thrusting trident in right hand, owl behind TAPAS in Exergue

Calabria 272-235 BC

6.62g

 

I misunderstood the OP. That vastly narrows down the possible candidates to a couple hundred years. I have no new to add some additional to what has been posted could be:
Akragas
Naxos
Phocaea
Tenedos
Gela
Messana
Poseidonia because I spent 2 weeks there!

 

I'll second @Severus Alexander's qualified nomination of Larissa. In terms of historical significance, it's not in the same league as some of the other cities mentioned, but I think the region of Thessaly is worthy of representation in a list of 12 Greek cities to own coins from, and from a historical and numismatic point of view, Larissa was the most significant Thessalian city.


THESSALY, Larissa
AR Drachm. 5.86g, 19.3mm. THESSALY, Larissa, circa 380-365 BC. BCD Thessaly II 295; HGC 4, 446. O: Head of the nymph Larissa facing slightly left, with hair in circlet with grain ears above. R: API/ΣAIΩN, mare and her foal standing right.

 

I believe the posts to this thread show well the situation. Greek coinage is too vast a subject to be distilled down to a few representative coins. If we tried, it would be necessary to make choices between many equally meritorious candidates. Of course I feel this way about Roman as well and dislike any separation by periods or ranking of one century over another. That is another post. Greek coins also would lend themselves to separation by centuries selecting one coin from each century or period from the beginning to when Diocletian ended the Alexandrian Greek language coinage. That is also another post. Thanks to all who posted to this one.

 

I could see a breakdown into 12 archaic, 12 classical and 12 Hellenistic.

That would give us more scope to include worthy cities in the time period where they are most significant.

A person could pick one of the categories to get started on and then move to the others or not as they choose.

John