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Hekte - Alyattes II Sardes
| 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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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Two irregular incuse square punches impressed into the flat reverse, characteristic of the earliest Lydian electrum coinage. The punches are arranged side by side and display a rough, striated surface texture resulting from the hammered manufacturing technique; no legend or additional device is present, the field being otherwise plain. |
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| Mint | Sardes |
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| Additional information |
The Lydian electrum hekte sits at the very beginning of coined money. Alyattes II — father of Croesus — is credited by most modern scholarship with initiating the royal Lydian coinage program, converting what had been irregular lumps of naturally occurring electrum into standardized, state-guaranteed denominations. The alloy was sourced directly from the Pactolus River, which drained the gold-bearing sands of Mount Tmolus through Sardis itself.
Herodotus names the Lydians as the first people to strike coins of gold and silver — a claim still debated, but not without foundation here.