"Phokaia struck coins of electrum, silver and bronze. (1) Electrum, C6-C4:denominations:stater, hekte. Types: obv. a variety of types with seal above or below; rev. quadripartite incuse square. (2) Silver on the Phoenician standard, C6-C4: denominations: tetradrachm, diddrachm, drachm and fractions down to hemiobol.: obv. variety of types with seal above or below; rev. mostly quadripartite incuse square; legend: sometimes ΦΩ (3) Bronze: obv. femail head; rev. griffin; only a few bronze coins carry the legend ΦΩΚΑΙЄΩΝ. In, probably, C5s, Phokaia and Mytilene (no. 798) concluded a treaty that the two poleis should take turns and strike identical electrum coins in alternating years (IG xII.21). In C4 the staters and hektai struck in consequence of this treaty became the principle local currency of the poleis of western Asia Minor (Tod 112 = SEG 34 849; Head, HN2 587-89; Jenkins (1990) 18-19; Bodenstedt (1977-78a), (1977-78b) with Kraay (1982); BMC Ionia 203-16; SNG Cop. Ionia 1023-33)."
Kraay, C. M. 1982 "Review of Bodenstedt" Gnomon 54: 499-500.
Barclay Vincent Head, Reginald Stuart Poole, Catalogue of the Greek Coins of Ionia, British Museum Dept. of Coins and Medals, 1892. [2]
"After the destruction of Smyrna by the Lydians the influence of Phocaea seems to have rapidly increased, and it was through this port that the products of the interior now found their way to the sea. The extension of the Phocaïc standard coincides (in so far as we are able to judge from the coins), with the period during which Phocaea enjoyed a maritime supremacy (circ. B.C. 602–560*). The impetus given at this time to the coinage of Phocaea was doubtless also due in great part to the troubles of Miletus, and to the consequent cessation of the issue of electrum staters at that city during the Milesian war B.C. 623–612."
"The staters of the Phocaïc standard are distinguisable from the Milesian not only by their weight, 256–248 grs. as against Sardian and Milesian, weighting only 219–215 grs., but by their darker colour, which is due to their containing a considerably higher percentage of pure gold.†"
"To the town of Phocaea itself there is at present only one stater which can be certainly attributed. It has on the obverse a seal, the type parlant of the city, together with the letter _ (= Φ) beneath it. ..."
"From this time forward no eletrum staters of Phocaea are known. The Persian conquest, and emigration of the greater part of the population of Phocaea (B.C. 544), are sufficient to account for the cessation of the coinage, and when it recommences, probably quite late in the sixth century, it seems (if we may judge from the extant coins), to have consisted only of hectae and smaller divisions. These are very abundant and exhibit a great variety of types ranging from the archaic to the finest style of art. In every case the main type is accompanied by the symbol of Phocaea, the seal (see pls. iv. and v.).
"Electrum hectae, as issued from the mints of Phocaea and Mytilene, constituted the chief currancy of the coasts of western Asia Minor during the whole of the fifth and a great part of the fourth century B.C., and these two cities, in order to secure an absolute uniformity in the fitness of the coinage, entered into a monetary convention about the close of the fifth century, the text of which was discovered and published by Sir Charles Newton in Transactions of the Royal Society of Literature, vol. viii., p. 549.* In this degree it was stipulated that the two cities should strike coins of identical weight and fineness, each minting in turn for the space of one year. it being decided by lot that Mytilene should begin. Nothing is said in the description concerning the denominations of the coins, which are simply called ... but there can be little doubt that staters as well as hectae, were struck at both towns. Of Mytilene, indeed the British Museum has recently acquired a stater at present unique ... which clearly belongs to the end of the fifth or the begining of the fourth century, ... for we know that these coins circulated in large quantities throughout Greece, cf. Thuc. iv. 52 ... and Demosth. xl. 36 ... Staters and hectae of Phocaea are also mentioned in several Attic inscriptions dating from B.C. 429 and 397 (Hist. Num., p. 507).
Hist. Num, = Historia Numorum. Historia Numorum: A Manual of Greek Numismatics
"At an early period it therefore became necessary to add to the device the initial letter or letters of the name of the city to which the type specially belonged. A single letter, such as the Φ beneath the phoca at Phocaea or the Q beneath the Pegasos at Corinth, was often sufficient to localize the παρα/σημον" (p. lxiv)
"The Commercial Alliance Coinages of neighbouring independent cities united, not politically, but simply for the practical advantages to be gained by increased facilities of exchange. Of these the best known example is that of the monetary convention between Mytilene and Phocaea for the issue in alternate years, and turn by turn at either mint, of electrum money, chiefly hectae, for common circulation in their respective territories and spheres of commercial activity. The terms of this convention are recorded in a lapidary inscription (Hicks and Hill, Hist. Inscr., No. 94) dating from circ. B.C, 400." (p. lxxxiii)
"Phocaea. This ancient city, some 40 miles north of Smyrna, seems to have risen to great importance after the destruction of the latter by the Lydians, and it was through this port that the products of the interior henceforth found an outlet across the sea (Herod. i. 163). As a maritime city Phocaea was, after Miletus, one of the first coast towns to adopt the new invention of coining money."
"The early electrum staters of the Phocaïc standard are distinguishable from the Milesian by their heavier weight, 256-248 grs., as against the Sardian and Milesian, weighing only 220-215 grs., and by their richer colour, which is due to their containing a higher percentage of pure gold (Num. Chron., 1887, 304 sqq.). The extension of this standard seems to coincide with the period during which the Phocaeans are said to have been supreme upon the sea (θαλαττοκρατειν), B.C. 602-560 (Num. Chron., 1875, p. 282). To the town of Phocaea itself there is at present only one type of stater which can be certainly attributed:—"
"The Persian conquest and the emigration of the greater part of the population of Phocaea (B.C. 544) account for the extreme rarity of its staters. From the latter part of the sixth century onwards the electrum coinage seems to have been limited to hectae and smaller divisions (see infra). There are a few silver coins, however, which clearly belong to the period before B.C. 544. These follow the Phoenician standard."
"The abundant series of electrum hectae and divisions, of various types, but all distinguished by a small seal as an adjunct symbol, range from the archaic to the finest style of art. The earlier types are for the most part heads of animals or animal forms (seals, griffins, lions, bulls, boars, rams); the later, human heads of various divinities, &c., both male and female (B. M. C., Ion., Pls. IV and V, and Macdonald, Coin Types, p. 49 f.). It is remarkable that not a single stater has yet been discovered of a later date than that with the seal, described above, although we know from Thucydides (iv. 52 δισχιλιους στατηρας Φωκαιτας), writing of the events of B.C. 425, and from Demosthenes (xl. 36 τριακοσιους στατηρας Φωκηις) that large numbers of Phocaean staters must have circulated side by side with the hectae. Staters and hectae of Phocaea are also mentioned in Attic inscriptions dating from B.C. 429 (I. G., ed. Kirchhoff, i. 199 and 207) Φωκαιδες εκται χρυσιου, and from B.C. 397 (I. G., 652, l. 42) Φωκαικω στατηρε : II : εκται Φωκαιδες ... (l. 44) εκταε Φωκαις, &c."
It was, moreover, precisely in the latter part of the fifth century that the towns of Phocaea and Mytilene concluded the monetary convention, according to the stipulations of which it was decreed that the two cities should strike coins of identical weight and fineness, each minting in turn for the space of one year, it being decided by lot that Mytilene should begin, see Mytilene, supra, p. 558 (Hicks and Hill, Gr. Hist. Inscr., 1901, p. 181). There can be no doubt that the coins (χρυσιου) mentioned on the stone are the hectae of which such large quantities have come down to us, and that both staters and hectae of Phocaea and Mytilene, as well as of other towns, formed, with the Cyzicenes, the principal local currency of the coast towns of western Asia Minor down to the age of Alexander the Great.
At first sight it may seem somewhat surprising that an important mint, such as Phocaea undoubtedly was in the fifth and fourth centuries, struck so small a number of silver and bronze coins. The explanation is that the electrum money was a common currency issued according to agreement with neighbouring cities to meet the necessities of general maritime commerce, whereas silver and bronze coins were current only within the restricted territory of the town itself, which was a mere rocky promontory jutting out into the sea. The following small coins are the chief specimens with which I am acquainted:—
"Seleucid tetradrachms were struck at Phocaea about the beginning of the reign of Antiochus Theos (circ. B.C. 261), probably under a con- tention with Cyme and Myrina: see Macdonald, J. H. S., xxvii, pp. 145 ff. Again, in the early part of the second century Alexandrine tetradrachms and drachms bearing the badges of Phocaea, the seal, the griffin, or the letters ΦΩ, were issued from the Phocaean mint (Müller, Nos. 983-990).
Quasi-autonomous and Imperial coinage.
Augustus to Philip. Inscr., ΦΩ, ΦΩΚΑΙЄΩΝ, ΦΩΚΑЄΩΝ, and under M. Aurelius, dedicatory coins with ΦΩΚΑΙЄΥCΙΝ ΑΝЄΘΗΚЄ (Invent. Wadd., 1902; B. M. C. Ion., p. 222 sq.). Magistrates’ names at first in nom., later in gen. with επι and title Strategos. Chief types—Busts of ΙЄΡΑ"
The Numismatic Chronicle The Numismatic Chronicle 1875 [9]
Inscription refering to the monetary agreement with Mytilene: [10], [11]
"During the greater part of the fith century, and down to about B. C. 350, one of the most important currencies of the west coast of Asia Minor consisted of electrum staters, and sixths of staters issued by the cities of Phokaia in Ionia and Mytilene in Lesbos. None of the staters of Phokaia of this period come down to us, and only one of Lesbos; nonetheless we know from literary sources (Thuk. iv 52; Demoosth. xl. in Boeot. 36) that the Phokaian staters were an important currency; while an enormous variety of sixts of both mints has come down to us, and, as the coins are small and easily lost, must represent a very much larger original issue ..."
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The Phocaeans were among the first in the world to make and use coins as money. Phocaean coins have been dated as early as the late seventh century BC. The British Museum has a coin made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of silver and gold, attributed as Phocaean from 600–550 BC.[1]
Herodotus credits Lydia as being the first to make coins.[2]
Phocaea and its port were important to the flow of Lydian trade, and wherever the first coins were struck, the practice soon spread. Miletus was another important early coin maker. The Milesian war (623-612), during which Miletus stopped minting coins, and the the Lydian destruction of Smryna in mid 6th century BC (Hansen) (C. 600 BC Christopher John Emlyn-Jones 1980; The Oxford History of the World) (c. 585 Head) both helped to increase the importance of Phocaean coinage. (Head, 1892 p. xx.)
The earliest coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of silver and gold, once found in abundance in the Pactolus river, which flowed by the Lydian capital Sardis, and emptied into the Hermus.[3]
From various ancient sources,[4] one can infer that Phocaean electrum staters were common, although only a handful are now known. More common are electrum hectae which were one sixth the weight and value of a stater.
In addition to electrum, Phocaia made coins of silver and of bronze. (Hansen)
Some Phocaean coins contain the image of a seal. This is an example of kind of play on words called type parlant that is "talking" or "speaking type", since the Greek word for "seal" is "phoce" (Φώκη).
ANCIENT GREEK COINS OF MILETUS
phokaic: EL stater = 16.1 gramms (248 grains)
Phoenician: Silver shekel (didrachm) 7.0 grams
Silver denominations:
Contradictory Theories: Making Sense Of Greek Coin Weight Standards
See: The Ionians and Hellenism: A Study of the Cultural Achievement of Early Greek Inhabitants of Asia Minor By Christopher John Emlyn-Jones Published by Routledge, 1980 ISBN 0710004702, 9780710004703
Coinage in Miletus: http://books.google.com/books?id=Yd5EYLWcgNgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Miletos+A+History&sig=ACfU3U0heG2IPz6pwxb5Q4ijnO9KRwVg1w#PPA48,M1
Eusebius, Chronicle Phocaean Thalassocracy (sea supremacy) for 44 years, p. 225: [21]
Thestorides of Phocaea: possible author of Little Iliad.
Catholic Encyclopedia: [29]
In 133 BC, when Attalus III, the last king of Pergamon, died (having bequethed his kingdom to Rome) control of Phocaea passed into Roman hands. The following year Aristonicus, (perhaps the son of Attalus's brother Eumenes II) led a popular uprising against Rome, which the Phocaeans joined. In 133 BC the uprising was put down. And according to Justinus: The people of Marseilles sent ambassadors to Rome to intercede for the Phocaeans their friends, whose city and even name the senate had ordered to be destroyed, because, both at that time, and previously in the war against Antiochus, they had taken up arms against the Roman people. The embassy obtained from the senate a pardon for them. (Marcus Junianus Justinus, Epitome of the Philippic History of Pompeius Trogus Book, XXXVII [30])
"There was however a son of Eumenes, named Aristonicus, not born in wedlock, but of an Ephesian mistress, the daughter of a player on the harp; and this young man, after the death of Attalus, laid claim to the throne of Asia as having been his father’s. When he had fought several successful battles against the provinces, which, from fear of the Romans, refused to submit to him, and seemed to be established as king. Asia was assigned by the senate to the command of Licinius Crassus, who, being more eager to plunder the treasures of Attalus than to distinguish himself in the field, and fighting a battle, at the end of the year, with his army in disorder, was defeated, and paid the penalty for his blind avarice by the loss of his life. The consul Perperna being sent in his place, reduced Aristonicus, who was defeated in the first engagement, under his power, and carried off the treasures of Attalus, bequeathed to the Roman people, on ship-board to Rome. Marcus Aquilius, Perperna’s successor, envying his good fortune, hastened, with the utmost expedition, to snatch Aristonicus from Perperna’s hands, as if he ought rather to grace his own triumph. But the death of Perperna put an end to the rivalry between the consuls. Asia, thus becoming a province of the Romans, brought to Rome its vices together with its wealth ([31])
"Pompey gave Phocaea its independence. In the Early Christian era, the city became the center of a diocese, and in A.D. 1275 the Genoese, who were mining alum there, fortified the town with a castle. [32]
"Telephanes of Phokaia was a sculptor for Darius and Xerxes in the 5th c. B.C., and according to Vitruvius (7 Praef. 12) Theodoros of Phokaia wrote on the Tholos at Delphi and was probably the builder of it (beginning of the 4th c. B.C.).
"In ancient times a temple stood on the highest point of a rocky platform at the end of the peninsula, where the secondary school now stands. Excavations have yielded many fragments of bases, columns, capitals, and architectural terracottas which may have been part of the Temple of Athena mentioned by Xenophon (Hell. 13.1) and Pausanias (2.31.6; 7.5.4). Constructed of fine white porous stone, the building seems to have been erected in the second quarter of the 6th c. B.C., and restored about the end of the same century after its destruction by the Persians. The architectural and other finds are in the Izmir Museum.
"The rock monument N of the asphalt road, 7 km E of Foça, was not built but was carved out of the rock, like the tombs found in Lycia, Lydia, and Phrygia. The pattern of a door on the facade also appears on Lydian works in the vicinity; but on the other hand, the monument follows the Lycian custom in having two stories, with the upper one in the form of a sarcophagus. The burial chamber, however, was on the ground floor, and the presence of a stepped element between the two floors is indicative of Achaemenid influence. The building must have been erected in memory of a minor king, and therefore during a time when non-democratic Persian rulers dominated the region. There were tyrants close by at Larisa during the 5th and 4th c., and the Phokaian monument may have been that of a tyrant who ruled a small area in the 4th c. B.C.
"The tomb called ?eytan Hamami (the Devil's Baths), in Foça itself, is carved out of rock like some of the Lydian tombs. The Greek sherds found in this grave date from the end of the 4th c.> [33]
According to a slightly different theory, Phocaean Greeks brought the olive tree with them from Phocaea, an ancient Ionian city in West Asia Minor on the Aegean, when they founded Marseilles in Southern France circa 600 BC [34]
see [35]
Image of phocaea from space: http://earth.jsc.nasa.gov/sseop/EFS/lores.pl?PHOTO=STS078-732-56