History written,
not just minted

A history of Athenian coinage from the early Wappenmünzen and first tetradrachms through the classical mass issues, wartime emergency money, fourth-century r...

Can you own a coin of Hannibal Barca? No surviving Barcid coin securely names Hannibal or proves that its famous male portrait depicts him; the head is gener...

Jesus Christ first appeared as a portrait on Byzantine imperial coinage under Justinian II around AD 692. Learn what the first Christ coins looked like, why ...

Roman coins usually did not carry modern-style numerical face values. Romans recognized denominations through familiar combinations of metal, size, weight, p...

There is no accurate modern-dollar conversion for a Roman denarius. Its purchasing power changed across centuries, regions, occupations, and monetary reforms...

Most ancient coins are flat and round. Then you meet a late Byzantine trachy: thin, oddly shaped, and curved like a tiny metal bowl. Why would anyone make a ...

A beginner-friendly guide to ancient coin denominations: obols, drachms, tetradrachms, shekels, denarii, sestertii, aurei, solidi and more—what the names mea...

A beginner's guide to Roman Republic coins—from cast bronze and the first denarii to moneyers, Julius Caesar, Brutus and Mark Antony. Learn what to collect a...

How do you build a collection of Alexander the Great coins? Compare silver drachms and tetradrachms, gold staters and bronze issues; learn how mints, control...

The Roman denarius did not decline in a straight line. Introduced around 211 BC as high-fineness silver, it was reduced under Nero, strengthened under Domiti...

A shekel was a Near Eastern weight standard before it became the name of a coin. Ancient shekels therefore did not all share one fixed design or weight. This...

Ancient Persian coinage extends far beyond the famous Achaemenid gold daric. This beginner's guide follows more than a thousand years of Persian monetary his...

The safest way to buy an ancient coin is to start with the seller. This beginner's guide explains what to look for in an ancient coin dealer: meaningful auth...

There was no single "Viking coin." Viking-Age Scandinavians used silver in several forms: Islamic dirhams carried north through trade, Anglo-Saxon pennies, F...

Love watching ancient history? This note is for documentary, podcast, and history-channel fans who have never realized they can own genuine objects from the ...

Which Roman emperor should you collect first? Compare Constantine, Trajan, Hadrian, Augustus, the Severans, Crisis-era rulers, and late Roman emperors by his...

Already collect Colonial or early American coins? Your eye for hand-struck surfaces, centering, wear, patina, die differences, and historical context gives y...

What coins can you collect from the Third Punic War? Learn how late Carthaginian bronze, Numidian coins and Roman Republican denarii connect to 149–146 BC—an...

The Second Punic War (218–201 BC) pitted Hannibal's Carthage against the Roman Republic from Cannae to Zama. Learn why the war began, how Rome survived Hanni...

The First Punic War (264–241 BC) transformed Rome from an Italian power into a major Mediterranean naval state. Learn how the war began in Sicily, why Rome b...

Which coins actually belong to the Greco-Persian Wars? Learn how to collect Achaemenid darics and sigloi, early Athenian silver, Aegina turtle staters, and o...

What coins are connected to the Mithridatic Wars? This collector’s guide covers Mithridates VI, Pontus, the three wars against Rome, royal tetradrachms, affo...

Learn how to collect coins from the three Punic Wars, including Roman Republican denarii, Carthaginian bronze, Punic Iberian issues and coins from Hannibal’s...

What is it actually like to own and study a real ancient coin? Learn why genuine Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Biblical coins survive in private collections, w...