What is an Islamic dinar? The reformed gold dinar of Abd al-Malik emerged in the late seventh century as a high-purity inscriptional coin of the Umayyad Cali...

What is a lepton? In Greek, lepton denotes a very small unit or coin, and the New Testament uses the term for the widow’s tiny bronze offering in Mark 12:42 ...

What is a fals? The fals (plural fulūs) was a widely used copper or bronze coin of the medieval Islamic world. Early Islamic copper issues in former Byzantin...

What are Judaea Capta coins? Roman victory issues struck under the Flavians after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 used captives, palm trees, trophies, Victory...

What is Hadrian's Travel Series? Beginning in the later years of Hadrian's reign, the Roman mint issued an extraordinary group of coins portraying provinces,...

Did the Romans put the Colosseum on coins? Yes. Rare Flavian bronze coins depict the amphitheatre now known as the Colosseum, making them some of the most fa...

What does Nero's Port of Ostia sestertius show? The famous bronze depicts the Claudian harbor at Portus with ships, curving harbor works, a pharos surmounted...

What is a quadrans? A quadrans was a low-value Roman bronze denomination traditionally worth one-quarter of an as. Learn its Republican and imperial history,...

What is a quinarius? The quinarius was a Roman silver denomination worth half a denarius. Introduced with the denarius system around 211 BC, it was originall...

What is a prutah? Prutah is the conventional numismatic name for small bronze coins of ancient Judaea, especially Hasmonean, Herodian, Roman-prefectural, and...

What is a Persian siglos? The siglos was the Achaemenid Empire’s royal silver coin, circulating especially in western territories such as Asia Minor rather t...

What is a Persian daric? The daric was the high-value gold coin of the Achaemenid Empire, introduced under Darius I and used especially in the empire’s weste...

What is an ancient Greek stater? A stater was a principal coin or weight denomination whose metal, weight, and value varied by local monetary system. Explore...

What is a didrachm? A didrachm was an ancient silver denomination worth two drachms within a local monetary standard. Learn about famous issues from Tarentum...

What is an ancient Greek obol? An obol was a small Greek denomination commonly valued at one-sixth of a drachm. Learn about its tiny silver issues, its relat...

What is a tetradrachm? A tetradrachm was a large Greek silver denomination worth four drachms. Learn how Attic-standard tetradrachms of about 17.2 grams beca...

What is an ancient Greek drachm? The drachm was a major Greek silver denomination, normally divided into six obols, but its weight and design varied among re...

Can you collect ancient coins connected to The Odyssey? Odysseus lived in a legendary Bronze Age world centuries before coinage, but later Greek and Roman mi...

How do you choose what kind of ancient coins to collect? Use your interests, personal connections, budget, preferred art style, historical themes and desired...

Why don’t Roman coins have dates? Most Roman imperial coins do not show a calendar year because Roman dating relied on consuls, imperial reigns, and changing...

What does FEL TEMP REPARATIO mean? The famous Late Roman coin legend is conventionally translated as “the restoration of happy times” or “happy times restore...

What was a moneyer in ancient Rome? Roman Republican moneyers, the tresviri monetales, were junior magistrates connected with coin production whose names oft...

Explore the silver staters, or nomoi, of Tarentum: the horseman, Taras riding a dolphin, the city's Spartan foundation, its equestrian and maritime identity,...

Metapontum made an ear of barley its civic signature for centuries. Learn why this Greek city of southern Italy chose the grain emblem, how its famous incuse...