TCV Roundtable Blog

100 Greatest Ancient Coins Series: Syracuse Tetradrachm (Greece - Circa 415-405 BC)

To sign or not to sign? That certainly is the question regarding our next coin dissection from the 100 Greatest Ancient Coins series published by Whitman Publishing. Author Harlan J. Berk takes us back to where it was rarer to see signed dies than to not see them. Our coin today does indeed have a signature, and in fact, comes from a region that produced mostly signed designs. Berk will take us through this entry which sits in the top 20. Reminder: this top 100 list features coins from the earliest onward despite their ranking.

#17 – Syracuse Tetradrachm (Greece – Circa 415-405 BC)

No matter the design, no matter the artistic style, die-engraver signatures did not appear on millions of Greek and Roman coins apart from a few. The reason it is not common for a signature to appear on the coins is because they were property of the state. Back then, only mint masters, rulers, civic magistrates, or moneyers (or authorized persons granted permission by the state...read more