The agora mint and athenian bronze coinage

Abstract

The large square building in the southeast corner of the Athenian Agora, excavated in the 1950s and in 1978, served as the Athenian mint for the striking of bronze coins from the 4th through the late 1st century B.C. The best-preserved part of the building, the southwest room, produced ample evidence of industrial activity, including unstruck bronze coin blanks and rod segments from which the blanks had been chopped. The building was constructed near the end of the 5th or at the start of the 4th century B.C., but whether it was originally intended for the coining of bronze is uncertain.