What is a relatively cheap coin related to the Pelopenessian War

After reading Thucydides I am interested in finding something related to this topic.

 

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When I think of coins of this period I always think of the attic owl coins (though cheap they are not). Sadly, to my understanding the Spartans didn't mint coins (they did use bars of bronze as a form of commerce).
I have an attic owl that I shared in a thread @Mat did that you may want to read ..https://www.cointalk.com/threads/adopted-an-owl-finally.311176/ . Though my owly is later than the great Greek war. Here she is with some friends.

 

Many of the primary coin issues associated with the Peloponesian War can get pretty pricey. I suppose it depends on what your definition of "cheap" is. A few contenders that can be had in the sub-$100 range are.


https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=321629

Kamarina was an ally (somewhat unenthusiastically) of Athens preceding thier invasion of Sicily. This type dates from this period of the war and the Athena / owl reference is pretty self explanatory. The above (not mine) hammered for $120 but if you look around you might find some in the sub-$100 range.


Siglos that are roughly contemporary to the end of the Peloponnesian War can be had in lesser grades than the above for less than $100. These are not as overtly connected to the war as some other coins but many of them were produced for Asia Minor to be used by the cities that the Persian's captured from the Athenian alliance both during and after the war. In a way they were the Persian replacement to the Athenian Tetradrachm.

 

KAMARINA: (Flying the Attica Colors - Owl)

SICILY Kamarina Æ Onkia 13mm 1.5g 420-405 BC Gorgoneion tongue - KAMA owl r lizard in claw pellet in ex SNG München 411


Sicily Kamarina AE 15mm 3.4g 420-405 BCE Athena Owl Lizard 3 dots Sear Gk 1063

ACHAEMENID EMPIRE - Standing by, colluding, scheming, roiling up trouble for Greece...


Achaemenid Xerxes II to Artaxerxes II 420-375 BC AR siglos 16 mm 5.14 g Persian king running spear bow - incuse Carradice Type IIIb C pl XIV 42) Sunrise 25

ATHENS:

Athens Attica 454-404 BCE ARr hemidrachm 16mm 2.08g Athena frontal eye - facing Owl wings closed olive branches COP 70 SG 2528

 

You know, you do not need to limit yourself to Athens. A little research goes a long way. Do you live near a university with a library? HUNDREDS of cities were involved in this. You could make this a lifetime pursuit. You could buy 10 or 20 coins from different cities 431-404 BCE for the price of a single Owl.

The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC) was an ancient Greek war fought by the Delian League led by Athens against the Peloponnesian League led by Sparta. Historians have traditionally divided the war into three phases. In the first phase... -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_War

By 454, the Delian League could be fairly characterised as an Athenian Empire; a key event of 454 was the moving of the treasury of the Delian League from Delos to Athens. This is often seen as a key marker of the transition from alliance to empire, but while it is significant, it is important to view the period as a whole when considering the development of Athenian imperialism, and not to focus on a single event as being the main contributor to it. At the start of the Peloponnesian War, only Chios and Lesbos were left to contribute ships, and these states were by now far too weak to secede without support. Lesbos tried to revolt first, and failed completely. Chios, the most powerful of the original members of the Delian League save Athens, was the last to revolt, and in the aftermath of the Syracusan Expedition enjoyed success for several years, inspiring all of Ionia to revolt. Athens was nonetheless eventually able to suppress these revolts -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delian_League.

Sparta acquired two powerful allies, Corinth and Elis (also city-states), by ridding Corinth of tyranny, and helping Elis secure control of the Olympic Games. Sparta continued to aggressively use a combination of foreign policy and military intervention to gain other allies. Sparta suffered an embarrassing loss to Tegea in a frontier war and eventually offered them a permanent defensive alliance; this was the turning point for Spartan foreign policy. Many other states in the central and provincial northern Peloponnese joined the league, which eventually included all Peloponnesian states except Argos and Achaea. -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peloponnesian_League

 

Very true. I've been rereading this recently and was delighted with all the names I'd glossed over years ago as an undergrad. It would indeed make for a fun, broad collection.

 

I did not want to clip the entirety of the Wikipedia articles, but Athens and Sparta each had hundreds of allied cities.

 

Fractions will be cheaper than large silver coins. Consider them.

 

Generally, the drachmon was the day's pay for a soldier in the field, a citizen at assembly, or a rower on a galley.