In the early 6th century B.C., Athens began making silver coins in small denominations that were convenient in everyday trade. One of the best known coins of this period is the Athenian TETRADRACHMA. “Drachma” meant “handful” and came from the Greek practice of using small copper and iron spits, measured by the handful, as money. A tetradrachma was worth “four handfuls.” These Athenian coins were also among the first coins in the region to have a design on both sides. The designs usually represented important religious, political or commercial matters. The front of the tetradrachma shows the goddess Athena, for whom Athens was named. Greek mythology said Athena gave the city its chief source of wealth, the olive tree, and Athenians remembered that when they designed their coins. The image of the goddess of wisdom and strength appears on the front, the first prominent representation of the human form on a coin. On the back, branches of the olive tree hang above the wing of the owl, Athena's symbol. The Athenian tetradrachma was the first coin to become “international” money. It was used widely in trade among the Greeks and other peoples of the region.
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