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Currency Bar Spit
| Issuer | |
|---|---|
| Year | 200 BC - 100 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Iron |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Plain, undecorated iron blade of elongated spit form, pinched or narrowed at one end to form a rudimentary handle or terminal. The surface is generally flat and unworked, without incuse or relief decoration, consistent with the utilitarian character of Iron Age currency bars. The blade does not taper significantly along its length, retaining a broadly uniform cross-section. |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Plain, undecorated reverse face mirroring the obverse, with no inscriptions, symbols, or artistic embellishment. The iron surface presents a flat or slightly convex profile characteristic of cast or roughly forged Iron Age currency bars. The pinched terminal is visible at one end, consistent with the spit typology as classified within the Crew typological framework. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Log in to see details |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Iron spit currency — obeloi in Greek — predates coinage in the Peloponnese and persisted long after silver coins became standard, particularly in conservative Spartan economic practice. Sparta famously resisted coined money as a matter of deliberate policy, with iron spits remaining the sanctioned exchange medium well into the classical period. Aristotle references the bundled spit as a precursor to the obol, the smallest silver denomination, whose name derives directly from obelos.
By the second century BC, these bars functioned more as ritual or institutional objects than active trade currency. A hoard of iron spits dedicated at the Heraion of Argos — recorded by excavators at the sanctuary — confirms their continued votive use centuries after silver had displaced them commercially.