Latest research
Historical account researchThe Athenian treasury account records principal and interest in talents,drachmas and obol fractions. Detailed disbursements cover 426/5–423/2 BCE, with a retrospective summary for 433/2–427/6.
Sources and qualifications → Historical account researchAn Attic property-security marker specifies a loan of 750 drachmas for Dionysos, corroborating drachma-denominated obligations beyond the fifth-century state treasury ledger.
Sources and qualifications → Attic and Alexandrine scopeExtend the Athenian profile to the Attic accounting standard adopted and spread by Alexander. Regional Hellenistic witnesses are qualified associations, not a claim that every Greek-speaking territory shared one currency.
Sources and qualifications → Alexandrine marriage obligationsP.Eleph.1 values a dowry at 1,000 drachmas and specifies an additional1,000 Alexander silver drachmas as a penalty. Berlin dates the contract310 BCE; association with the retained Attic profile is regional.
Sources and qualifications → Seleucid land-sale accountsAntiochus II’s land sale requires thirty silver talents in instalments, entered in royal records. This254/253 BCE witness is associated with the wider Attic tradition, without creating a dynasty-only currency.
Sources and qualifications → Dura property obligationsP.Dura15 records a 120-silver-drachma property price and matching penalty. Its editorial195 BCE date and association with the wider Attic profile remain qualified.
Sources and qualifications → Modern name revival is not ancient continuityThe1833 Greek drachma replaced the phoenix and revived an ancient name. This is not an ancient-drachma-to-euro inheritance link.
Sources and qualifications → Qualified drachm ancestryEgyptian silver accounting inherited the Attic drachma structure and developed a separate regional system with distinct internal and external valuations. Admit qualified ancestry, not a branch created solely by Ptolemaic rulers or reduced coin weights.
Sources and qualifications → Qualified drachm ancestryMorony explicitly derives the Sasanian fiscal drahm from the Attic drachma spread east by Alexander and transmitted through Seleucids and Parthians. Admit compressed, qualified ancestry; intermediate identity boundaries and dates remain unresolved.
Sources and qualifications → Bactrian drachma financial recordThe Amphipolis parchment’s document1 line4 records100 drachmas of coined silver. Editors place it approximately 220–170 BCE; a loan-repayment interpretation remains tentative. Associate this Bactrian Greek account witness with the broad Attic/Alexandrine tradition provisionally, without creating a currency for each dynasty.
Sources and qualifications → Aï Khanoum treasury transferTreasury inscription4a records a transfer of 500 drachmas and the sealing of the container. The jar texts are archaeologically placed in the mid-second centuryBCE. These are surviving treasury labels, not a complete ledger; association with the broad Attic tradition remains qualified.
Sources and qualifications → Asangorna stater account: identity unresolvedInfrared reading confirms20 staters in an early-second-centuryBCE tax receipt from Asangorna. The editors favor a unit of account rather than payment specifically in gold coins. Its ratio and identity relation to the Bactrian drachma remain unresolved; preserve this as contextual evidence without creating a separate stater currency or dated Attic observation.
Sources and qualifications → Bactrian scope and identity limitsBactrian drachma financial records are a qualified regional association within the retained Athenian/Alexandrine account tradition. Common royal authority does not merge the different monetary practices north and south of the Hindu Kush. Bactrian rulers receive no separate currency nodes merely for changing coin issues.
Sources and qualifications → Indian money distinguished in the treasuryAï Khanoum records drachmas, kasapana taxaena and kasapana nandena separately. Their equivalence is disputed, and identifying taxaena specifically with Taxila remains qualified. Later Deccan kārṣāpaṇa accounting could persist despite changing Indo-Greek coin supplies. No Greek-to-Indian account conversion is inferred.
Sources and qualifications → Kushano-Sasanian association; earlier account ancestry openMorris associates the gold dinars in these legal documents with Kushano-Sasanian issues. This provides regional monetary context, but does not itself establish the account transition from Bactrian drachmas, a Roman denarius parent, or continuity to a modern dinar. Hold those ancestry links.
Sources and qualifications → Account-unit observations
Dated evidence, not exact birth or extinction dates.
-426–-425supportedThe Athenian treasury account records principal and interest in talents,drachmas and obol fractions. Detailed disbursements cover 426/5–423/2 BCE, with a retrospective summary for 433/2–427/6.
C1377 -340–-320supportedAn Attic property-security marker specifies a loan of 750 drachmas for Dionysos, corroborating drachma-denominated obligations beyond the fifth-century state treasury ledger.
C1378 -310qualifiedP.Eleph.1 values a dowry at 1,000 drachmas and specifies an additional1,000 Alexander silver drachmas as a penalty. Berlin dates the contract310 BCE; association with the retained Attic profile is regional.
C2019 -254–-253qualifiedAntiochus II’s land sale requires thirty silver talents in instalments, entered in royal records. This254/253 BCE witness is associated with the wider Attic tradition, without creating a dynasty-only currency.
C2020 -195qualifiedP.Dura15 records a 120-silver-drachma property price and matching penalty. Its editorial195 BCE date and association with the wider Attic profile remain qualified.
C2021 -220–-170qualifiedThe Amphipolis parchment’s document1 line4 records100 drachmas of coined silver. Editors place it approximately 220–170 BCE; a loan-repayment interpretation remains tentative. Associate this Bactrian Greek account witness with the broad Attic/Alexandrine tradition provisionally, without creating a currency for each dynasty.
C2085 Mid-second century BCqualifiedTreasury inscription4a records a transfer of 500 drachmas and the sealing of the container. The jar texts are archaeologically placed in the mid-second centuryBCE. These are surviving treasury labels, not a complete ledger; association with the broad Attic tradition remains qualified.
C2086
Evidence & research notes 15 claims
Dated observations, not a proven complete lifespan.
Supported C1377
The Athenian treasury account records principal and interest in talents,drachmas and obol fractions. Detailed disbursements cover 426/5–423/2 BC, with a retrospective summary for 433/2–427/6.
Stephen Lambert and P. J. Rhodes, Attic Inscriptions Online · Loans from the sacred treasuries, 433/2–423/2 BC Citation S689 ·
Open source ↗IG I³369 lines1–22,97–120 and note1
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Full account translation and all explanatory notes inspected.
Supported C1378
An Attic property-security marker specifies a loan of 750 drachmas for Dionysos, corroborating drachma-denominated obligations beyond the fifth-century state treasury ledger.
Stephen Lambert, Attic Inscriptions Online · Marker of property used as security for a loan Citation S690 ·
Open source ↗IG II²2767 entire inscription
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Entire translation, date and note inspected.
Qualified C2018
Extend the Athenian profile to the Attic accounting standard adopted and spread by Alexander. Regional Hellenistic witnesses are qualified associations, not a claim that every Greek-speaking territory shared one currency.
Andrew Meadows · Denominational systems, in Peter Thonemann, The Hellenistic World (2016) Citation S1051 ·
Open source ↗pp.197–198, Greece and accounting paragraphs; Attic system adopted by Alexander
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2019
P.Eleph.1 values a dowry at 1,000 drachmas and specifies an additional1,000 Alexander silver drachmas as a penalty. Berlin dates the contract310 BC; association with the retained Attic profile is regional.
Patrick Sänger, Berlin Papyrus Database · Marriage, mobility and migration at the beginning of Hellenism (2024) Citation S1052 ·
Open source ↗P.Eleph.1 / P.13500; contract, monetary obligations and dating discussion
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2020
Antiochus II’s land sale requires thirty silver talents in instalments, entered in royal records. This254/253 BC witness is associated with the wider Attic tradition, without creating a dynasty-only currency.
C. Bradford Welles, Royal Correspondence, translated on Attalus · Royal Correspondence 18 / OGIS225: Antiochus II land sale Citation S1053 ·
Open source ↗254/253 BC; thirty talents, instalments and royal records; pp.197–198, Greece and accounting paragraphs; Attic system adopted by Alexander
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Andrew Meadows · Denominational systems, in Peter Thonemann, The Hellenistic World (2016) Citation S1051 ·
Open source ↗254/253 BC; thirty talents, instalments and royal records; pp.197–198, Greece and accounting paragraphs; Attic system adopted by Alexander
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2021
P.Dura15 records a 120-silver-drachma property price and matching penalty. Its editorial195 BC date and association with the wider Attic profile remain qualified.
P.Dura15, translated on Attalus · Sale of Property at Dura-Europos Citation S1054 ·
Open source ↗Contract, consideration and penalty; editorial dating195BCE, Seleucid years117/123
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2036
The1833 Greek drachma replaced the phoenix and revived an ancient name. This is not an ancient-drachma-to-euro inheritance link.
Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection · Silver drachma of King Otto Citation S428 ·
Open source ↗1833 decree, phoenix replacement and ancient-name revival
Qualified C2037
Egyptian silver accounting inherited the Attic drachma structure and developed a separate regional system with distinct internal and external valuations. Admit qualified ancestry, not a branch created solely by Ptolemaic rulers or reduced coin weights.
Andrew Meadows · Denominational systems, in Peter Thonemann, The Hellenistic World (2016) Citation S1051 ·
Open source ↗pp.197–198, Greece and accounting paragraphs; Attic system adopted by Alexander; pp.11–12 and23–24: closed regional system, silver and copper accounts
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Brian P. Muhs · Tax Receipts, Taxpayers, and Taxes in Early Ptolemaic Thebes (OIP126,2005) Citation S1055 ·
Open source ↗pp.197–198, Greece and accounting paragraphs; Attic system adopted by Alexander; pp.11–12 and23–24: closed regional system, silver and copper accounts
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2039
Morony explicitly derives the Sasanian fiscal drahm from the Attic drachma spread east by Alexander and transmitted through Seleucids and Parthians. Admit compressed, qualified ancestry; intermediate identity boundaries and dates remain unresolved.
Michael G. Morony · Iraq After the Muslim Conquest (Princeton,1984) Citation S1058p.39 Attic/Alexander/Seleucid/Parthian derivation; pp.99–107 fiscal assessments; Umar’s diwan, Sasanian unit adoption,698–99 reorganization and regional accounts
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Ann K. S. Lambton · ECONOMY v. From the Arab Conquest to the End of the Il-Khanids, part1 (1997) Citation S1059 ·
Open source ↗p.39 Attic/Alexander/Seleucid/Parthian derivation; pp.99–107 fiscal assessments; Umar’s diwan, Sasanian unit adoption,698–99 reorganization and regional accounts
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2085
The Amphipolis parchment’s document1 line4 records100 drachmas of coined silver. Editors place it approximately 220–170 BC; a loan-repayment interpretation remains tentative. Associate this Bactrian Greek account witness with the broad Attic/Alexandrine tradition provisionally, without creating a currency for each dynasty.
Willy Clarysse and Dorothy J. Thompson · Two Greek Texts on Skin from Hellenistic Bactria, ZPE 159 (2007), 273–279 Citation S1093 ·
Open source ↗pp.273–277: archaeological dating; c.220–170 BC; document 1 line 4, 100 drachmas
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2086
Treasury inscription4a records a transfer of 500 drachmas and the sealing of the container. The jar texts are archaeologically placed in the mid-second centuryBCE. These are surviving treasury labels, not a complete ledger; association with the broad Attic tradition remains qualified.
Claude Rapin and Frantz Grenet · Inscriptions économiques de la trésorerie hellénistique d’Aï Khanoum, BCH 107.1 (1983), 315–381 Citation S1094 ·
Open source ↗p.351, inscription 4a: transfer and sealing of 500 drachmas; pp.273–277: archaeological dating; c.220–170 BC; document 1 line 4, 100 drachmas
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Published transcription/discussion p.351 inspected; original container not independently collated.
Willy Clarysse and Dorothy J. Thompson · Two Greek Texts on Skin from Hellenistic Bactria, ZPE 159 (2007), 273–279 Citation S1093 ·
Open source ↗p.351, inscription 4a: transfer and sealing of 500 drachmas; pp.273–277: archaeological dating; c.220–170 BC; document 1 line 4, 100 drachmas
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2087
Infrared reading confirms20 staters in an early-second-centuryBCE tax receipt from Asangorna. The editors favor a unit of account rather than payment specifically in gold coins. Its ratio and identity relation to the Bactrian drachma remain unresolved; preserve this as contextual evidence without creating a separate stater currency or dated Attic observation.
Jens Jakobsson and Simon Glenn · New Research on the Bactrian Tax-receipt, Ancient History Bulletin 32 (2018), 61–71 Citation S1095 ·
Open source ↗pp.63–64 n.15: 20 staters as account unit; pp.66–67: regional monetary distinctions
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2088
Bactrian drachma financial records are a qualified regional association within the retained Athenian/Alexandrine account tradition. Common royal authority does not merge the different monetary practices north and south of the Hindu Kush. Bactrian rulers receive no separate currency nodes merely for changing coin issues.
Willy Clarysse and Dorothy J. Thompson · Two Greek Texts on Skin from Hellenistic Bactria, ZPE 159 (2007), 273–279 Citation S1093 ·
Open source ↗pp.273–277: archaeological dating; c.220–170 BC; document 1 line 4, 100 drachmas; p.351, inscription 4a: transfer and sealing of 500 drachmas; pp.63–64 n.15: 20 staters as account unit; pp.66–67: regional monetary distinctions
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Claude Rapin and Frantz Grenet · Inscriptions économiques de la trésorerie hellénistique d’Aï Khanoum, BCH 107.1 (1983), 315–381 Citation S1094 ·
Open source ↗pp.273–277: archaeological dating; c.220–170 BC; document 1 line 4, 100 drachmas; p.351, inscription 4a: transfer and sealing of 500 drachmas; pp.63–64 n.15: 20 staters as account unit; pp.66–67: regional monetary distinctions
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Published transcription/discussion p.351 inspected; original container not independently collated.
Jens Jakobsson and Simon Glenn · New Research on the Bactrian Tax-receipt, Ancient History Bulletin 32 (2018), 61–71 Citation S1095 ·
Open source ↗pp.273–277: archaeological dating; c.220–170 BC; document 1 line 4, 100 drachmas; p.351, inscription 4a: transfer and sealing of 500 drachmas; pp.63–64 n.15: 20 staters as account unit; pp.66–67: regional monetary distinctions
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2089
Aï Khanoum records drachmas, kasapana taxaena and kasapana nandena separately. Their equivalence is disputed, and identifying taxaena specifically with Taxila remains qualified. Later Deccan kārṣāpaṇa accounting could persist despite changing Indo-Greek coin supplies. No Greek-to-Indian account conversion is inferred.
Federico De Romanis · Notes on Barygaza’s Trade: Commodities and Coins at an Asian Crossroads (2025) Citation S1067 ·
Open source ↗pp.135–137, especially p.136 n.78: treasury categories and continued kārṣāpaṇa accounts
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.
Qualified C2093
Morris associates the gold dinars in these legal documents with Kushano-Sasanian issues. This provides regional monetary context, but does not itself establish the account transition from Bactrian drachmas, a Roman denarius parent, or continuity to a modern dinar. Hold those ancestry links.
Lauren Morris · Tools of Economic Activity from the Greek Kingdoms of Central Asia to the Kushan Empire Citation S1098 ·
Open source ↗pp.464 n.93 and 467–469: c.332 marriage contract; gold-dinar fines and Kushano-Sasanian issues
Source access and limitations
Not a complete origin, lifespan or current-status audit.