Ancient Drachma

ancient Greece · money · history

Started as sticks. The word drachma originally meant a handful of wooden spits or arrows used for bartering, before people started making coins with that name.

Each city had its own. Different Greek city-states minted their own drachma coins, so coins from Athens looked different from coins from other cities.

Made from precious metals. Most drachmas were crafted from silver, though some were made from gold, and they became valuable all across the Mediterranean.

Athens ruled the money game. Athenian drachmas were so trusted and popular that they became the strongest currency in the ancient world.

Ten centuries of use. The drachma lasted from around the 6th century BC all the way through the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman periods.