Do you have any coins of Sparta?

I’ve seen a lot of Ancient Greek coins on this forum but strangely enough I’ve never seen anyone post a coin of Ancient Sparta.

Originally I thought the reason was obvious. I read somewhere that the Spartans discouraged the accumulation of wealth as it was seen as luxurious and unmanly: two things no hypermasculine Spartan man would want to be accused of.

I also read that the Spartans specifically used heavy lumps of iron for payments in an attempt to discourage the hoarding of wealth.

But then I saw this Spartan tetradrachm and everything I knew about Spartan “coinage” was flipped upside down.



I’m curious if anyone here has any coins from Ancient Sparta?

 

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Sparta didn't mint coins. They were too Spartan.

 

You might want to see the picture above because I thought the same thing xD

 

Sweet dreams.

They exist, but are exceedingly rare.

The coin you posted was used to pay non-Spartan mercenaries and was not meant for use by Spartiates.
And, with 10 known specimens, it's probably safe to call it 'scarce'...

Coinage became more common when they were forced into the Achaean League.
But by then Sparta had really ceased to be Sparta...

 

Many types of coins were minted in the region of Laconia and Lacedaimon(near but not the actual settlement of Sparta).

 

I would bet Athena’s companion animal is a goat, not a stag. It sports goat horns, not stag antlers. And it is bearded.

Athena’s aegis is made of goat skin. And I read somewhere that goats were sacrificed to her on the Acropolis. Whereas stags are associated with Artemis.

 

Late Lakedaimon coinage is scarce but not so 'rare' that an average collector cannot own one, Lakedaimon started to mint silver fractions when they were part of the Achaian League and afterwards they struck silver coins in the 1st century and bronze coinage even longer well into the Roman sphere. The Kleomenes tetradrachm is an exception.

Lakedaimon is the city state and it includes the main city Sparta, and even Sparta is not 1 city but a cluster of settlements around the valley of the Eurotas River. So if you have a coin from Lakedaimon, it is the question if it is from Sparta or if it is minted by the Perioikoi in other towns around Sparta. Even so, most likely these coins circulated in Sparta nonetheless. During the mintage of these coins, Spartans were not that 'Spartan' anymore.

 

Mine comes from its "tourist attraction" period.


LAKONIA, Lakedaimon (Sparta)
AE20. 5.7g, 20.3mm. LAKONIA, Lakedaimon (Sparta), C. Julius Eurycles as hegemon, circa 21 BC. HGC 5, 625; RPC 1103; BCD Peloponnesos 921; SNG Cop 603. O: Head of Zeus right. R: Club; Λ-A/EΠI EY/PY-K(ΛE)/O-Σ in four lines across field; all within wreath.
Ex BCD Collection; ex Joseph J. Copeland Collection

 

This article provides some interesting info on Spartan coins. I've seen the roman bronzes come up a few times at auctions.

 

Sparta probably would have been using coins minted in Athens during the era of the city states in in the 5th century BC.

 

Sparta!



I wasn't aware of any coins of Sparta. Maybe they used Athenian owls.

 

No royal coins here, just provincial.

Achaea. Laconia, Lacedaemon(Sparta). Claudius Æ25. Piloi of the Dioscuri.
Obv: TI KLAVDIOC KAICAP; laureate bust right.
Rev: EΠI ΛAKΩNOΣ; piloi of the Dioscuri; two stars above.
Magistrate Lacon
RPC 1115 var.



Achaea. Laconia, Lacedaemon(Sparta). Marcus Aurelius Æ20
Achaea; Peleponnessus (District: Laconia)
Marcus Aurelius (Augustus)
Obv: ΙΜΠ Κ Μ ΑVΡΗ ΑΝΤΩ ΑVΓ / laureate-headed bust of Marcus Aurelius wearing cuirass and paludamentum, r.
Rev: ΛΑΚƐΔΑΙΜΟΝΙωΝ / Club.

 

There are coins minted under the aegis of the Achaian League which are attributed to Sparta (Lakedaimon) I at one time owned one of these.THIS IS NO LONGER MY COIN
Ar Triobol or Hemidrachm Circa 85 BC Obv Head of Zeus right Rv, Monogram of Achaian League flanked by piloi of the Dioskouroi. 13 mm These coins are not scarce and are readily available. The only issue is that these coins were minted long after Sparta had lost any ability to influence the political discourse of Greece.

 

It may not have been used to pay Spartans themselves but I think we can all agree it still qualifies as a coin of Ancient Sparta.

 

Me neither until I saw the Spartan tetradrachm coin I posted a picture of xD

The Spartans strongly frowned upon accumulation of wealth. It was seen as very unmanly and un-Spartan.

 

Spartan mercenaries got paid with tetrobols from Phokis during the third Sacred War, as an example.

 

But then who made this coin?

It has the Lacadaemon symbol on it.

(It looks like an upside down V)

 

Well then who made this?



Definitely not one of these guys.

 

The Third Sacred War was ~120 years before this coin was minted, and even then the scarcity of it implies production was low.

 

Hmm I wonder if they minted any gold coins. Even in low production.

Or if they were like the early days of the Roman Republic and viewed gold as an unmanly luxury and refused to mint them for that reason alone.