Lot 3322

Description

Lydia, Sardes, time of King Croesus or later, (c.550-520 B.C.), silver stater or double siglos, (9.314 grams), obv. confronting foreparts of lion, facing right, and bull facing left, rev. two incuse punches of unequal size, side by side, (S.3419 [£1250], Traite pl.10,7, SNG von Aulock 2873, I. Carradice, Coinage of the Persian Empire BAR Inter. Ser. 343, [1987], Pl.10, 2). Surface porosity, otherwise good fine and very rare.

Ex Noble Numismatics Sale 61 (lot 2645). This coin is normally known as an issue of the Lydian king Croesus. Throughout the ancient world he was known for his legendary wealth, and it is therefore not surprising to find these most ancient of silver coins associated with this king. The lion is the paramount symbol of royality and as such is appropriate for his Lydian kingdom. According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first to strike gold and silver coins, but the numismatic evidence is not easily compatable with this statement. Carradice study suggests that this coin is unlikely to have been minted in the lifetime of king Croesus, however Sear assigns them to this ruler c.560-546 B.C. The issue sees the introduction of the world's first bimetallic coinage, gold and silver pieces based on a stater of pure metal weighing about 10.8 grams. This was the intial phase of relatively short duration as shortly after the gold was reduced in weight to about 8.00 grams for a stater and the silver siglos replaced the silver stater. Seldom has this company offered the silver stater or double siglos. It is indeed an historic and important coin from the earliest period of coinage in the western world.