The Reminting of Athenian Silver Coinage, 353 B.C.

by John H. Kroll

Hesperia, Volume 80, Issue 2
Page(s): 229-259
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.80.2.0229
Year: 2011
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ABSTRACT:

Combining evidence from Athenian silver coins, an unpublished Agora inscription, and several accounts concerning historical figures, this article reconstructs the Athenian program of 353 B.C., whereby all of the largerdenomination silver coinage in the city was demonetized and called in for restriking as a means of raising revenue during the fiscal crisis in the aftermath of the Social War. The folded-flan technique and erratic, substandard appearance of the resulting “pi-style” coins, attestations of their hurried production in that year, were retained in all subsequent Athenian silver coinage down into the 3rd century as recognized attributes of good Athenian money.