  Tetradrachm.
This coin dates from 261BC, which makes it my new oldest sample: 2,267 years old at the time it was added to the collection. I read somewhere that when the Euro was introduced in Greece, it was the first time in 3,000 years that a coin called the Drachm was not being minted somewhere in that ancient country. Seems like a shame somehow. It's hard to fathom how old something like this really is. When Christ was born it was already older than the United States is now. Do you suppose someone had it in their coin collection at the time?
The British Museum has a much nicer example of this coin from about 60 years earlier. Slight differences indicate that mine might be a version from a different region, or possibly a forgery, though if it is fake it's probably an ancient fake, which is just as interesting as an old real coin.
In any case, my primary reason for buying this (not cheap) coin was to use a photograph of it in a periodic table poster. Bizarrely, it's cheaper to buy a stunning 2,267 year old pure silver coin than it is to license a photograph of one, plus you get to keep the coin. Look at the rotatable image to see the other side of this very fine coin.
I chose this sample to represent its element in my Photographic Periodic Table Poster. The sample photograph includes text exactly as it appears in the poster, which you are encouraged to buy a copy of.
Source: Specialty Stamp & Coin
Contributor: Theodore Gray
Acquired: 13 February, 2006
Text Updated: 29 January, 2009
Price: $300
Size: 1"
Purity: >90%
Sample Group: Coins
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