Expensive Ancient Coins

The record holder for an ancient Greek coin is the facing portrait gold stater of Pantikapaion, which brought $3.2m in a 2012 New York auction. Pantikapaion on the Black Sea coast of Crimea grew wealthy shipping grain from Ukraine’s fields to feed Greek cities. Weighing 9.12 grams, the coin was struck between 350 and 300 BCE. On the reverse a griffin stands over an ear of wheat, surrounded by the first three letters of the town’s name. The obverse shows the bearded head of a satyr.

Syracuse Tetradrachm of Kimon. Greek cities of Sicily during the fifth century BCE brought the art of coin die engraving to levels that would not be seen again for 1300 years. Cities like Syracuse, Akragas, Leontinoi and Naxos competed to celebrate their deities on large silver ancient coins. $3m a record for a Greek silver coin.

Akragas Dekadrachm. Until it was sacked by the Carthaginians in 406 BCE, Akragas (now Agrigento) was one of the largest and wealthiest cities in the Greek world. Shortly before its fall, Akragas issued a magnificent dekadrachm to honor a winner of an Olympic chariot race. $2.4m

Dekadrachm of Athens. With only around 40 genuine examples known (and many convincing fakes), the silver dekadrachm of Athens struck c. 467-465 BCE is one of the most desired ancient coins. The obverse depicts the helmeted head of the goddess Athena. The reverse shows an owl, wings outspread. At 42.5 grams, the coin is so large that it pushed the limits of hand-hammered minting. $ 850,000

Gold Stater of Athens. A handful of gold staters and fractions were struck as an emergency wartime issue in 406-407 BCE. Four examples of the 8.6 gram gold stater are known, three of them in museums. The fourth brought $ 783,000 in 2008.