Numismatica Genevensis SA
Auction 9 14 December 2015
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Asia Minor. Kingdom of Lydia. Kroisos, 560 - 546 BC. Stater, Sardes. (Silver, 10.68g., 14.5 - 21.1mm). On the left, forepart of a lion to right confronting, on the right, the forepart of a bull to left / Two incuse squares, of unequal size, side by side. ACGC 79. SNG von Aulock 2873. Traité I 407, pl. X, 7.
A sharp, well-centered and sharply struck coin, one of the finest known. Extremely fine.
Provenance: The Numismatic Auction 2, 12 December 1983, 158.
It now seems quite clear that Herodotus was actually right in stating that Kroisos was the first ruler to strike a coinage of pure gold and pure silver – earlier coinage being struck in electrum. His initial coins were of heavy weight, both gold and silver (as here); their weights were later reduced and served as the direct ancestor of the royal Persian coinage, gold darics and silver sigloi. Those first Persian issues were also struck at Sardes, since Persian coinage was designed for use in the western part of the empire, where the use of coins as money had begun in the late 7th century. The image of a lion confronting a bull was an ancient, oriental symbol of power, but the lion was undoubtedly also a symbol of the power of the Mermnad dynasty, which was founded when Gyges came to the throne in the early 7th century and ended with Kroisos. The history of the last king of Lydia is almost too well-known to need repeating: Kroisos' s very generous gifts to Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi were famous all over the Greek world; and its misleading oracle, that by attacking Persia Kroisos would destroy a great empire, which came true when he destroyed his own, became proverbial.
A sharp, well-centered and sharply struck coin, one of the finest known. Extremely fine.
Provenance: The Numismatic Auction 2, 12 December 1983, 158.
It now seems quite clear that Herodotus was actually right in stating that Kroisos was the first ruler to strike a coinage of pure gold and pure silver – earlier coinage being struck in electrum. His initial coins were of heavy weight, both gold and silver (as here); their weights were later reduced and served as the direct ancestor of the royal Persian coinage, gold darics and silver sigloi. Those first Persian issues were also struck at Sardes, since Persian coinage was designed for use in the western part of the empire, where the use of coins as money had begun in the late 7th century. The image of a lion confronting a bull was an ancient, oriental symbol of power, but the lion was undoubtedly also a symbol of the power of the Mermnad dynasty, which was founded when Gyges came to the throne in the early 7th century and ended with Kroisos. The history of the last king of Lydia is almost too well-known to need repeating: Kroisos' s very generous gifts to Apollo's sanctuary at Delphi were famous all over the Greek world; and its misleading oracle, that by attacking Persia Kroisos would destroy a great empire, which came true when he destroyed his own, became proverbial.