Lessons from ancient Greek coinage

THE Greek word for money, chrema, carries a significance its English translation cannot fully convey. “It means ‘to need’ and ‘to use’ together,” explains Nicholas Stampolidis, director of the Museum of Cycladic Art (MoCA) during a recent visit to the museum’s latest exhibition, “Money: Tangible Symbols in Ancient Greece.” 

Today’s money can seem invisible. Payments are directly deposited into online bank accounts. People can spend weeks without exchanging paper notes or metal coins. Even basic transactions are relegated to plastic cards, wire transfers and perhaps bitcoin. In both senses of chrema, people need and use money more than ever; it’s hard to imagine trading a bushel of wheat or a jug of olive oil for a pair of trainers or mobile-phone service. Yet tangible proof of those transactions are hard to come by. Exploring the tangibility of currency is what makes “Money” such a fascinating exhibit.

The Athenian museum is exhibiting for the first time, in partnership...Continue reading