An ancient Greek coin worth half of a drachm, or half the weight of a drachm in currency.
From Greek 'hemi-' (half) + 'drachm' (a unit of weight and ancient Greek currency). The word literally means 'half-drachm' and referred to coins minted at half the standard drachm weight.
The hemidrachm shows how ancient economies worked on precision—they didn't just have one coin size, but multiple fractional denominations so merchants could make exact change for everything from a loaf of bread to a sheep.
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