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Hemihekte - 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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| Reverse description | A single deep, irregular incuse square punch dominating the reverse field, subdivided into smaller compartments by the marks of the punch tool, creating a rough striated texture within a recessed quadrilateral depression. The incuse design is characteristic of the earliest Lydian coinage and reflects the primitive punching technique employed before formal reverse types were introduced. No legend, symbol, or inscription appears. The flan edges are uneven, consistent with hand-hammered production. |
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| Mint | Sardis |
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| Additional information |
Alyattes II extended Lydian dominance across most of western Anatolia during his long reign, pushing the kingdom's borders against Ionian Greek cities whose merchants almost certainly handled these small electrum fractions in daily commercial exchange. The hemihekte — one-twelfth of a stater — existed precisely because large denominations were useless for routine transactions.
Lydia's electrum coinage is broadly credited as among the earliest struck coinage in the world, though whether Alyattes or his father Sadyattes initiated the practice remains genuinely debated among specialists. The natural electrum alloy drawn from the Pactolus River gave these early pieces their characteristically warm, pale gold color and variable gold-to-silver ratios that were only later standardized under Croesus.