Classical Banking

Unlike today, a barter in kind system was used in early Greece. Later, coin was the primary medium of exchange. The first coins were made of metal, then weighed to determine the value. The most used values were the drachma, the mina, the stater, and the talent.

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Money became more civilized as Athens and the Agora grew with the introduction of silver coins in the 6th century B.C. Most of the Athenian coins had the head of Athena and her owl stamped into them, while coins from other cities tended to have the gods that represented that city stamped on their faces. To find out how much these coins were actually worth, click here.

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Greek bankers, or Trapezites resulted from the minting of coin. The banks were usually located near the marketplace. Their primary purpose was not to give change, but to exchange funds from other cities to coin that could be spent in the marketplace. This was extremely important to the cities that were near the sea, for travellers spend grand amounts of money in foreign markets. Sailing served as the primary method of travelling throughout Greece.

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