One of my long time hobbies has been collecting ancient Greek and Roman coins. You might be surprised to learn that many of these coins were dated with the year in which the coin was struck.
Many era dates are used, but the most common of these is the Seleucid Kingdom, in which year 1 was 312 BC, when the kingdom’s founder, Seleukus 1 Nikator, took possession of Babylon. Greek letters represent the dates and usually have to be read from right to left. The simple conversion to dates we use: 312 minus the Seleucid year equals the year in BC. While dating ancient Greek coins we list two years because their year did not begin in January.
Many era dates are used, but the most common of these is the Seleucid Kingdom, in which year 1 was 312 BC, when the kingdom’s founder, Seleukus 1 Nikator, took possession of Babylon. Greek letters represent the dates and usually have to be read from right to left. The simple conversion to dates we use: 312 minus the Seleucid year equals the year in BC. While dating ancient Greek coins we list two years because their year did not begin in January.
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