Affordable Ancients: Coastal Coins of Asia Minor

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Ancient coin collecting is often seen as intimidating, defined by complex history, unfamiliar terminology, and seemingly prohibitive costs. In our Affordable Ancients series, Tyler Rossi of Shanna Schmidt Numismatics Inc. dispels these myths, proving that collecting authentic ancient coins can be both approachable and affordable. Each installment will provide practical insights, historical context, and expert guidance to help collectors confidently navigate the ancient coin market.

For our fourth installment, we leave the Roman world behind and travel east to the wealthy and culturally vibrant Greek coastal region of Asia Minor, namely Ionia and Aeolis. The civic bronzes struck here during the 2nd and 1st centuries B.C. remain interesting yet undervalued despite the artistic and historical depth they offer.

From Pergamon to Rome

In 133 B.C., Attalus III, the last Attalid king of Pergamon, died childless. In one of the more unusual acts of royal succession in antiquity, he famously bequeathed his entire kingdom (including most of Ionia and Aeolis) to Rome in his will. Ancient sources suggest he believed Roman military annexation was inevitable, and he hoped that a peaceful transfer would spare his people bloodshed. Whatever his reasons, the bequest immediately reshaped the eastern Mediterranean. Almost overnight, the storied Ionian Greek cities became part of the new Roman province of Asia. Yet despite Roman political oversight, they retained considerable local autonomy and continued to strike their own civic bronze coinage. As a result, the bronzes that survive from this period were issued by mints with centuries of artistic tradition behind them.

Civic Pride in Bronze

Kyme

Our first example comes from the Aeolian port city of Kyme, which traced its mythological foundation to the Amazonian queen of the same name. According to local tradition, Kyme and her warrior sisters founded the city under the protection of the goddess Artemis. This founding myth was a source of enormous civic pride, so much so that the city placed it directly on its coinage.

This coin from Kyme captures the myth in concise form. On the obverse, personified Kyme stands face-to-face with Artemis, a spear planted between them as the two figures clasp hands across its shaft, a sacred gesture of patronage. The reverse depicts two figures standing aboard a galloping quadriga (four-horsed chariot) racing right. Compressing such an equestrian scene onto a 17mm flan was a considerable engraving achievement, one that recalls the renowned masterpieces of classical Greece such as the famed Syracuse decadrachm.

Smyrna

Moving south into Ionia, we arrive at Smyrna (modern-day İzmir, Turkey), another great city of the ancient Greek world. By the 1st century B.C., Smyrna had become a prosperous commercial center. Its coinage bears the name of the annually rotating magistrate responsible for each year’s issue.

This particular example carries the name of the magistrate Zeuksis (ΣEYΞIΣ) and dates to roughly 80-75 B.C. The obverse displays a classically handsome laureate head of Apollo, patron deity of the city. The reverse is the more compelling of the two faces. It depicts a clenched hand wearing a caestus (leather-strapped Greek boxing glove) beside a victor’s palm frond. This device was chosen to represent Smyrna because of the city’s famous athletic festivals. In effect, the city was advertising its games to the wider Greek world.

Building an Affordable Ionian Type Set

Collectors on a budget are not limited to these two cities. The broader region offers fertile numismatic ground. Cities including Ephesos, Erythrai, Phokaia, and Miletos in Ionia, along with Myrina and Mytilene in Aeolis, all struck distinctive civic bronzes during this period at similarly accessible price points. Each favored its own iconographic vocabulary, making a regional type set both visually varied and historically coherent. Ephesos employed the bee and stag, Phokaia the seal (a visual pun on the Greek phoke), and Miletos the recumbent lion, to name only a few. A patient collector could spend years on these civic issues alone and never run out of new types to chase.

One important caveat; due to their availability and affordability, collectors shouldn’t settle too quickly. Prioritize even patinas, full legends, and well-centered strikes over low-grade placeholders. Mid-range examples can routinely be acquired for $50 to $250, while pleasing pieces with attractive surfaces and clear strikes typically run $300 to $750. Top-tier specimens with sharp strikes and prestigious pedigrees, however, run $750 to $2,000. For collectors who have followed this series from Iberian bronzes to Roman workhorse coins and Alexandrian tetradrachms, these little bronzes offer a chance to hold a piece of ancient Greek civic pride at prices that remain entirely within reach.

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