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1⁄48 Stater - Alyattes II
| Issuer | Kings of Lydia |
|---|---|
| Year | 610 BC - 560 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Facing forepart of a lion's head in bold relief, turned slightly to the right, rendered in the archaic Lydian artistic style. The jaws are depicted open, conveying ferocity, with clearly defined teeth visible. A distinctive globule, interpreted as a wart or solar symbol, is prominently placed on the forehead above the bridge of the muzzle. The eye is rendered as a raised circular boss, characteristic of early electrum coinage of the Lydian kingdom. The flan is irregular and the relief, though compact given the diminutive size, displays a high degree of craftsmanship for the period. |
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
These fractional electrum pieces were struck under Alyattes II, the Lydian king credited by most ancient sources — Herodotus among them — with formalizing coinage as a state instrument. The 1/48 stater denomination served small daily transactions in a monetizing economy that had not yet settled on silver. Electrum, the naturally occurring gold-silver alloy sourced from the Pactolus River sands, varied enough in fineness that Alyattes' administration began controlling alloy composition — a problem his son Croesus would eventually solve by separating the metals entirely into pure gold and silver denominations.