Lydia, Kroisos, Stater
ca. 564/53-550/39 BC - Sardis - Oro - NGC - BC+
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8.05 gr.
Ancient Greece: Archaic period
The Archaic period of Ancient Greece followed the Dark Ages. The date often selected to mark its start is that of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC. It came to an end with the Greco-Persian Wars three centuries later.
It was a period of founding with the political structuring of the Greek city-states (poleis) and their agoras (central public spaces). This period was also characterized by the colonization of vast territories, notably around the Mediterranean Basin and along the shores of the Black Sea. It was the age of authors such as Homer and Hesiod, Thaletas, and the appearance of city-founding heroes. It was also the beginning of the era of trading posts, the Greek alphabet, the birth of democracy in Athens, the first written legal texts, and, of course, currency.
Currency
If there is ONE important period to which numismatics can trace its origins and coinage its crucible, it is the Archaic period. Indeed, over the course of three centuries, a variety of means employed for commercial transactions were to emerge alongside each other and gradually evolve before developing into fully-fledged currency as we know it.
First, came bartering. Then, arriving from Mesopotamia via the Phoenician trade routes, the use of “hacksilver”, fragments of cut and bent silver items of various origins, including jewels and objects, the weight and purity of which were difficult to assess. To facilitate its use, sealed bags were eventually created, with the weight and purity of the metal verified beforehand.
And, logically, coins followed.
They probably originated around 640 BC in Lydia, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey). Initially made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, they were standardized and assigned denominations. At first, the use of coins as currency remained local and not very practical for small, everyday purchases. The smallest denomination, 1/96th of a stater, was equivalent to 2 days’ wages. Gradually, the gold content of the alloy became poorer, and eventually a bimetallic system with gold and silver evolved. It was probably at this point, when silver coins began to be issued and finally enabled small purchases, that its use began to spread and take off in the Greek world, to the detriment of hacksilver.
The types were manifold, and so were the standards. At first, issuers were probably not all states or cities, but also wealthy individuals. In terms of style, however, there are a few similarities, often with animals on the obverse and a hallmark with incuse strike on the reverse.
By around 500 BC, it appears that issues had become somewhat regulated, now being reserved for state entities. In the southern Aegean, we note in particular the emergence, towards the end of the 6th century, of coins minted on the island of Aegina with its turtle on the obverse and those of Corinth featuring Pegasus. Then came Athens, which, after a few sporadic types, issued its famous owl in parallel to a nascent democracy, laying the foundations for a currency using community and civic semiotics that endures to this day.
From this period, therefore, we must remember the laying of essential foundations, but also the diversity and lack of uniqueness of monetary usage, which would only come a little later. As with everything else in Ancient Greece, Chaos came before order.
Gold
Although nowadays gold enjoys a reputation as the king of precious metals, that was not always the case. For example, in Ancient Greece, Corinthian bronze was widely considered to be superior. However, over the course of time, it has established itself as the prince of money, even though it frequently vies with silver for the top spot as the standard.
Nevertheless, there are other metals which appear to be even more precious than this duo, take for example rhodium and platinum. That is certain. Yet, if the ore is not as available, how can money be produced in sufficient quantities? It is therefore a matter of striking a subtle balance between rarity and availability.
But it gets better: gold is not only virtually unreactive, whatever the storage conditions (and trouser pockets are hardly the most precious of storage cases), but also malleable (coins and engravers appreciate that).
It thus represents the ideal mix for striking coins without delay – and we were not going to let it slip away!
The chemical symbol for gold is Au, which derives from its Latin name aurum. Its origins are probably extraterrestrial, effectively stardust released following a violent collision between two neutron stars. Not merely precious, but equally poetic…
The first gold coins were minted by the kings of Lydia, probably between the 8th and 6th century BC. Whereas nowadays the only gold coins minted are investment coins (bullion coins) or part of limited-edition series aimed at collectors, that was not always the case. And gold circulated extensively from hand to hand and from era to era, from the ancient gold deposits of the River Pactolus to the early years of the 20th century.
As a precious metal, in the same way as silver, gold is used for minting coins with intrinsic value, which is to say the value of which is constituted by the metal from which they are made. Even so, nowadays, the value to the collector frequently far exceeds that of the metal itself...
It should be noted that gold, which is naturally very malleable, is frequently supplemented with small amounts of other metals to render it harder.
The millesimal fineness (or alloy) of a coin indicates the exact proportion (in parts per thousand) of gold included in the composition. We thus speak, for example, of 999‰ gold or 999 parts of gold per 1 part of other metals. This measure is important for investment coins such as bullion. In France, it was expressed in carats until 1995.
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