The stater (;
History
The stater, as a Greek silver currency, first as ingots, and later as coins, circulated from the 8th century BC to AD 50. The earliest known stamped stater (having the mark of some authority in the form of a picture or words) is an
electrum turtle coin, struck at
Aegina[ Coin images] that dates to about 650 BC.
[ Ancient coinage of Aegina. snible.org. Retrieved on 2011-02-10.] It is on display at the Bibliothèque Nationale in
Paris.
According to Robin Lane Fox, the stater as a weight unit was borrowed by the
stater weighing from the
shekel, which had about the same weight as a stater () and was also one fiftieth of a mina.
[Lane Fox, Robin. Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer. P. 94. London: Allen Lane, 2008. ]
The silver stater minted at Corinth[Smith, William. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. J. Murray, 1881.] of weight was divided into three silver Ancient drachma of , but was often linked to the Athens silver Ancient drachma (two drachmae) weighing .[Catalogue of Greek coins, A. Baldwin, Boston, 1955] In comparison, the Athenian silver tetradrachm (four drachmae) weighed . Staters were also struck in several Greek city-states such as, Aegina, Aspendos, Delphi, Knossos, Kydonia, many city-states of Ionia, Lampsacus, Megalopolis, Metapontium, Olympia, Phaistos, Paestum, Syracuse, Taranto, Thasos, Thebes and more.
There also existed a "gold stater", but it was only minted in some places, and was mainly an accounting unit worth 20–28 drachmae depending on place and time, the Athenian unit being worth 20 drachmae. (The reason being that one gold stater generally weighed roughly , twice as much as a drachma, while the parity of gold to silver, after some variance, was established as 1:10). The use of gold staters in coinage seems mostly of origin. The best known types of Greek gold staters are the 28-drachma kyzikenoi from Cyzicus.
Non-Greek staters
tribes brought the concept to Western and Central Europe after obtaining it while serving as mercenaries in north Greece.
Gold staters were minted in
Gaul by Gallic chiefs modeled after the
philippeioi of Philip II of Macedonia, which were brought back after serving in his armies, or those of his son Alexander the Great and his successors.
Some of these staters in the form of the Gallo-Belgic series were imported to Britain on a large scale.
These went on to influence a range of staters produced in Britain.
British Gold staters generally weighed between .
Celtic staters were also minted in present-day Czech Republic and Poland.
In 2018, archaeologists in Podzemelj, Slovenia unearthed fifteen graves at the Pezdirčeva Njiva site. In one of the graves they found a bronze belt with a gold coin.
The coin was a Celts imitation of the Alexander the Great stater, depicting Nike and Athena, and dates back to the first half of the 3rd century B.C.[ A significant find at Pezdirčeva Njiva: A gold coin from the 3rd century B. C.]
The Koson staters, minted in the 1st century BC by the Dacians, represent the only known gold coins issued by this people. Bearing the Greek language "ΚΟΣΩΝ " and featuring Ancient Rome-inspired iconography, these coins illustrate the cultural and political interactions between the Dacians and the Roman world during this period.
Gallery
File:Στατήρ Δύο Όψεις.JPG|Gold stater of Alexander the Great. Obverse: Athena wearing Corinthian helmet. Reverse: Nike holding stylis and wreath. Possibly minted in Abydos 328–323 BC.
File:Aureus d'or représentant un consul entre deux licteurs.jpg|A golden Dacians stater that imitates a Roman denarius minted with the legend "ΚΟΣΩΝ "
File:BMC 06.jpg|Early 6th-century BC Lydian electrum coin denominated as stater
File:Ravel 1008.2.jpg|Ancient Corinth stater. Obverse: Pegasus with Qoppa (Ϙ) beneath. Reverse: Athena wearing Corinthian helmet. Qoppa symbolised the archaic spelling of the city (Ϙόρινθος).
File:AR nomos of Velia.jpg|Stater struck in Velia 334–300 BC, Athena wearing a Phrygian helmet decorated with a Centaur, European lion devouring prey
File:Silver stater of Mithrapata of Lycia (c. 390–370 BC).jpg|Silver stater of Mithrapata of Lycia, 390–370 BC
File:Iron Age Coin, Stater of the Corieltauvi (FindID 622777).jpg|Gold stater of the Corieltauvi, 50−20 BC
File:Channel Islands Armorican Billon Stater about 75 BC, obverse.jpg|Channel Islands Armorican Billon Silver Stater about 75 BC, obverse, head r.
File:Channel Islands Armorican Billon Stater about 75 BC, reverse.jpg|The reverse showing a stylised horse r., and a comet below
See also
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Koson
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Egyptian gold stater
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Silver stater with a turtle
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Esunertos
External links
