The Hermitage collection of Ancient Greek coins numbers 63,360 items. It covers a period from the appearance of coins in the 7th century B.C. to the 5th century A.D. They were minted in practically all regions of the Ancient World from Spain to Bactria.
The first gold Lydian staters attract attention, as do a very respectable selection of electrum coins from the city of Cyzicus , the first international currency of ancient times.
The collection also includes such masterpieces of ancient coinage as the famous Syracusan dekadrachms the work of the remarkable artists and die-engravers Cimon and Euainetos. These splendid pieces are the first commemorative coins in history. They were minted to celebrate the victory of the Syracusans over the Athenians in 413 B.C. and comprise the pride of our collection.
The Hermitage has a highly interesting set of gold oktadrachms from Ptolemaic Egypt. These coins, some of the largest gold pieces produced in the Ancient World, are as a rule superbly made and well preserved. Minted for commemorative purposes and distributed at various formal occasions, they were therefore carefully kept by the recipients.
Represented in considerable quantity in the collection are the gold staters of such noted rulers as Lysimachus, Alexander the Great and his father Philip II, minted in various cities of the Ancient World
The Hermitage also possesses a large quantity of silver coins from various Greek centres. Among them are a considerable number of Athenian tetradrachms of various styles, a coin that was highly prized in its time for its precise weight and the quality of its metal.
There are a fair quantity of silver tetradrachms of Philip II and Alexander the Great. Among the coins of other Macedonian rulers particular interest is inspired by the coins of Demetrius I Poliorcetes that bear a depiction of the famous Nike of Samothrace.
The coinage of the Seleucids, the Ptolemies and the kings of Parthia is represented quite fully. Interesting too is the fairly small, but attention-drawing collection of such relatively rare examples as the coins of the Kingdom of Aksum.
Noteworthy too are the copper coins produced in Greek cities during the Roman period, especially the largest of them, the "medallions" of such centres as Alexandria, Cyzicus, Perinthus, Philippolis and Adrianopolis, on which we can see such lost edifices as the Pharos of Alexandria, the temples of various deities, statues well known in their day and so on.
The most brilliant part of the Greek stock, though, is the collection of coins from the cities of the northern Black Sea coast. This collection - which was actively built from the middle of the 19th century onwards - is justly reckoned the best in the world. It contains coins from all the cities of the region from the beginning of coinage in the 6th century B.C. to the final disintegration of the Bosporan kingdom in the 5th century A.D.
The collection contains not only coins of such major centres as Olvia, Pantecapaion and Chersonesus, but also those of the minor cities of the Bosporan kingdom that can be found singly, if at all in other collections.
Of particular interest are the gold staters minted in Pantecapaion in the 5th century B.C. Their artistic qualities make these pure gold, relatively small coins outstanding products of ancient art. The gold staters of the Bosporan kings are splendidly represented and their development can be traced over almost a thousand years.
All in all, although the Hermitage's Greek collection is not the largest in the world, it provides a fairly complete picture of coinage in the Greek states and in a number of areas adds significantly to what is held in other museums around the world.

If you enjoyed this collection, you might want to also visit the other collections at the State Hermitage Museum.

Antiquities

Four-Drachma Piece of Antimachus
2nd century BC
Larger view

Medallion of Constantine the Great
4th century AD
Larger view

Stater of the Kingdom of Panticapaeum
4th century BC
Larger view