Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1/3 Stater - Kroisos Light Type
| Issuer | Kings of Lydia |
|---|---|
| Year | 560 BC - 546 BC |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Drachm |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Weight | Log in to see details |
| Diameter | Log in to see details |
| Thickness | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Technique | Log in to see details |
| Orientation | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse script | Log in to see details |
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Two deep incuse square punches dominating the reverse field, characteristic of the hammered coinage technique employed at the Lydian mint. The punches are irregularly positioned and vary slightly in depth, creating a striated, stepped surface within each depression. The surrounding flan retains a smooth, slightly convex gold surface with no additional devices, legends, or symbols. This reverse type is consistent throughout the Kroisos light-weight gold series and served primarily as a mechanical countermark to confirm the coin's metal content. |
| Reverse script | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Edge | Log in to see details |
| Mint | Sardis |
| Mintage | Log in to see details |
| Additional information |
Kroisos reformed the Lydian monetary system around 560 BC by separating gold and silver coinage into parallel denominations — a structural innovation that influenced how Greek cities and later Persian administrators organized bimetallic treasuries. The so-called "light" designation distinguishes this series from the earlier heavy standard, reflecting a deliberate weight reduction that brought Lydian gold into closer alignment with trade weights used across western Anatolia.
Croesus was still issuing these when Cyrus the Great took Sardis in 546 BC, and the Achaemenid administration continued striking the type afterward — meaning not every example bearing this design was minted by the king whose name it carries.