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1/3 Stater - Kroisos
| Issuer | Kings of Lydia |
|---|---|
| Year | 560 BC - 546 BC |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Diameter | 13.5 mm |
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| Obverse description | Confronted foreparts of a lion to the right and a bull to the left, facing one another in heraldic opposition at centre field. The lion's mane is rendered in bold relief with striated detailing, its muscular foreleg and paw clearly articulated. The bull's head is turned to face the lion, with fine incised lines defining the dewlap and chest. The flan is irregular and bean-shaped, characteristic of early Lydian hammered coinage. No legend or inscription is present, the design serving as the sole indicator of royal Lydian authority. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
Kroisos reformed the Lydian monetary system around 560 BC by introducing the first true bimetallic coinage in history — separate gold and electrum series struck to fixed weight standards, replacing the earlier mixed electrum issues whose variable gold content made valuation difficult. The 1/3 stater, at roughly a third of the heavy gold stater, formed the fractional backbone of that system alongside the 1/6 and 1/12 denominations.
Croesus lost his kingdom to Cyrus the Great of Persia in 546 BC, and the Achaemenid administration subsequently adopted the Lydian weight standard for the daric — a direct institutional inheritance from the very monetary reforms these coins represent.