It is believed that coins were first struck about 2600 years ago in the western part of Asia Minor, in the kingdom of Lydia. These coins were kind of awkward looking, according to our standards, but very soon coins became objects of miniature art. It was primarily the coins minted by the various Greek city-states in the eastern Mediterranean that soon attained such excellence. These ancient Greek coins are real art objects. Probably the knowhow existed among engravers of semi-precious stone - now this skill was applied to the engraving of die stamps for coinmaking. The ancient Greeks used either iron or a special type of bronze to make the die stamps.

We still marvel at the beauty of the art objects produced by the ancient Greeks. Some are great buildings like the Parthenon temple, but there is also the miniature art found on the ancient Greek coins. By and large, it seems the top artistic level exhibited on the Greek coinage happened during the fifth century BC. Then, the Greek city-states were still independent and it is quite likely that the coins were a source of civic pride. There are even some cases, during those days, where the engravers were allowed to sign their name on the coins. This gives an idea of how highly regarded their contribution was.

There are many examples I could mention of fantastic ancient Greek coins. One city-state which produced particularly beautiful coins was the Cicilian city of Syracuse, during the early 5:th century BC. These coins often feature a portrait of a sea nymph, Arethusa; and this portrait tends to be masterfully rendered. The design is bold, but there is also a great attention to detail. Often, the nymph is shown in the customary profile view, but in some cases she is shown in frontal view, looking out on you. The face then really leaps out of the surface of the coin and the effect is stunning. Generally, ancient Greek coins are made with deep relief, so that the images become more three-dimensional than the rather flat coin imagery of our modern machine-made coins.