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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Gam3rBlake, post: 7977316, member: 115909&quot;]For almost a year now my oldest coin was my Athenian owl Tetradrachm minted between 440 BC and 404 BC.</p><p><br /></p><p>Well today I got an even <i>older </i>coin! <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>This is what I got and the coin that now holds the title of “oldest coin in my collection”.</p><p><br /></p><p>It’s a teeny tiny baby coin! ^_^</p><p>But it’s definitely an old baby!</p><p><br /></p><p>This is an obol of Miletus. According to Polybius the average foot soldier made 2 of these obols per day during the 3rd century BC and so in the 5th century BC this would’ve probably been about a day’s wages for a laborer or common soldier.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1384515[/ATTACH]</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1384516[/ATTACH]</p><p><br /></p><p><b>IONIA. Miletus. Ca. late 6th-5th centuries BC. AR 1/12 stater or obol (11mm). NGC XF.</b> Milesian standard. Forepart of roaring lion left, head reverted / Stellate floral pattern with central diamond enclosing pellet; all within incuse square. SNG Kayhan 462-475. SNG von Aulock 2082.</p><p><br /></p><p>Miletus was an Ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander river in ancient Caria.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1384522[/ATTACH]</p><p><i>Left entrance of the Ancient Greek theater of Miletus</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>[ATTACH=full]1384523[/ATTACH] </i></p><p><i>The Ionic Stoa on the Sacred Way in Miletus</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p><i>[ATTACH=full]1384524[/ATTACH] </i></p><p><i>Temple of Apollo in Miletus</i></p><p><br /></p><p>Thales of Miletus (624-545 BC) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer and pre-Socratic philosopher from the city. He is otherwise historically recognized as the first individual known to have entertained and engaged in scientific philosophy</p><p><br /></p><p>He is famous for proving that philosophers could become rich if they wanted. Thales used his knowledge of astronomy to predict that the olive harvest would be bountiful that year and rented out all the olive presses in Miletus several months prior to the olive harvest. He was right. The olive harvest that year did turn out to be extremely bountiful and he later rented out the olive presses for a much higher price than he paid and made a considerable profit thereby proving to the people who said philosophy was a pointless waste of time that philosophers could use their knowledge to become wealthy if they wanted to do so and that knowledge wasn&#039;t just a useless endeavor to pursue.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>Homer mentions that during the time of the Trojan War, Miletus was an ally of Troy and was city of the Carians, under Nestor and Amphimachus.</p><p><br /></p><p>Before the Persian invasion in the middle of the 6th century BC, Miletus was considered among the greatest and wealthiest of Greek cities.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>My next goal is to pick up a siglos or double sigloi of King Croesus but unfortunately those can cost a few thousand dollars so it’ll be a while <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie3" alt=":(" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the coin I am referring too.</p><p>&nbsp;I’ll never be able to afford a gold one.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1384517[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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