Owed on a Grecian Earn Trivia Quiz

Answer: Iron

The obol was an iron rod (from the Greek word for spit) that was worth 1/6 of a drachma. A handful of these obols (or oboloi) was called a drachm, from the Greek for grasp. Oboloi were originally made of iron and the shape was likely a way to make them transportable; fitting alongside other iron tools and weapons. The introduction of gold and silver would change this, as it became cumbersome to carry too many long rods and ingots.

Interestingly, because of this, Sparta even forbade the construction of coins when the time came. This was a means to avoid people from accumulating unnecessary excessive wealth; it was simply too cumbersome to store too many iron ingots!

Answer: Attic Standard

The Attic standard (also called Attic weight or Euboic standard) was a system of monetary standards used heavily in ancient Greece, particularly in Athens (located within the Attica region, thus the name). Due to the power and spread of Alexander the Great, this Athenian standard of currency became used throughout a much larger area than just Greece, and influenced similar standards across nations.

The drachma weighed 4.31 grams in this system, though tetradrachm (four drachma) coins were the main denomination. The weight fluctuates a small amount, as the standard weight of a tetradrachm was 17.26 grams, just above an exact four time multiplier of a drachma.

Answer: True

Though there are various denominations of drachma, including the hemidracha (also called the triobol), the trihemidrachma does not exist. There is such a coin called the trihemiobol, equivalent of one and a half obols, however.

These coins were all handmade, this much is true. The design would be hammered into the metals using a die. The shape of the drachma was purely a stylistic choice. There was no singular standard for the design of each coin, as we have in modern currencies. Each mint would be responsible for their own designs. What really mattered was the denomination of the coin equaling the correct weight according to standard, as the metal used was directly worth that amount used, rather than be a representation of worth. A silver drachma weighing 4.31 grams, then, would always be worth 4.31 grams of silver, regardless of the shape produced.

Answer: Charon's Obol

Charon, in mythology, is the ferryman of the Underworld who takes souls across the river Styx. Unfortunately for us humans, even the afterlife isn't free. Therefore, a customary coin (usually of small value, such an obol) was placed in the mouth of the deceased.

The coin was the payment for passage across the river. Ancient Greece was not the only location to hold this tradition, but it is the myth of the Charon that gives the tradition its name.

Answer: Melos

Melos comes from the Greek for melon. In the case of their symbols, however, the badge of the city was the apple, as well as the goddess Aphrodite. The Venus de Milo was found Melos (also called Milos), and is believed to represent the goddess Aphrodite. We know the statue to have no arms, but the original believe is that she was holding the badge of Milos in her arms; an apple.

Corinth used Pegasus, Thebes had a Boeotian shield as their badge, and Selinunte had the symbol of celery (called "selinon").

Answer: Labyrinth

The didrachma pictured has the famed Minotaur, a badge of Knossos. Another symbol used in currency from Knossos is the labyrinth which was fabled to contain the mythological beast. The labyrinth was found within King Minos' palace; he had Daedalus construct the labyrinth to hold the Minotaur.

This was a major story of Knossos, so it is no surprise the story would find its way onto currency.

Answer: Athena representing Athens

The little owl is a sacred symbol of Athens and accompanies Athena, the goddess of wisdom. As such, it is given the moniker "owl of Athena". The city of Athens, therefore, often used both Athena and the owl as badges for their coinage. In the case of this tetradrachm (equal to four drachmas), it also has lettering on it which says "of the Athenians".

The other goddesses do represent the cities listed, but have additional animals as well. Aegina, for instance, is also represented by a turtle, and Aegina (the city) depicts either the turtle or the nymph Chelone who transformed into a tortoise. Artemis is also represented by a bee, which features on Ephesian coins, and Olympian coins features an eagle alongside Nike.

Answer: 20

Gold was sometimes used for ancient Greek coinage, which increased the value. Because the Attic standard was based on the weight of silver, using the weight of the coin alone would not be enough. It was eventually determined that gold's worth was 1:10 that of silver.

Therefore, a stater coin such as this one, weighing twice as much as a standard 4.31 gram silver drachma, and being gold instead of silver, would equate to a 20-drachm piece. The weight and metal used often reflected the reputation of the mint producing the coins, so the very rarely made gold coins were a pretty big deal for those that used them.

Answer: The Writing on the Wall

The mina did represent a certain number of drachmas, but was never truly minted as a giant coin. Instead, chunks such as the one depicted contained writing to indicate the worth of the theoretical "70 drachma coin"; never was there a mina coin itself. The well-known Biblical story in the book of Daniel is Belshazzar's feast, which features the writing on the wall.

Many may know the writing was "mene mene tekel upharsin", which represents two mina, a shekel, and half-pieces. Now, these minas were different from the Greek, of course, but played a similar role and carried a similar weight, though these minas were in increments of 60, rather than 70. In Daniel, they were used figuratively to represent a passing of time, based on the weight the minas had.

Answer: Talent

The attic talent weighed a whopping 57 pounds and represented the equivalent of 6,000 drachma! Recall that a drachma was about a day's wage then, so one single attic talent was the equivalent of 16 years of labor (a skilled laborer who was able to make more would still take 9 years to accumulate a single talent). This talent, however, is the silver talent. The ones Solomon received were gold.

As we learned with the gold stater, gold was considered ten times as precious as silver, so a gold attic talent would have been worth 60,000 drachma! If you do some quick math, this means Solomon earned nearly 300 YEARS of wages... EVERY DAY.