Definition

• The earliest Greek copper coin and the eighth part of the Obol (q.v.). The etymology is probably from (Greek words), i.e., ore, or from Chalcis, the city that commanded the market for cop- per.

  It is supposed to have been first struck in the time of the Peloponnesian War, and was largely used by the successors of Alex- ander the Great.

  The multiples of the Chalcus were the Dekachalk (= 10 units), Octochalk (= 8 units), Pentachalk (= 5 units), Tetra- chalk (= 4 units), Trichalk (= 3 units), Dichalk (= 2 units). It was subdivided into the Hemichalk (= 1/2 unit).

Source

• Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)

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