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Stater
| Issuer | Uncertain Ionian city |
|---|---|
| Year | 575 BC |
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| Currency | Lydo-Milesian stater |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | A bull in bold relief, depicted in a dynamic butting posture facing right, shown in full profile with all four legs visible and firmly planted on a ground line. The animal's muscular haunches and lowered head convey forceful movement, characteristic of the archaic Ionian artistic style. The flan surface surrounding the bull is smooth and unmarked, with the figure occupying the majority of the oval electrum flan. The modelling of the bull's body, with carefully rendered striations along the hindquarters and naturalistic anatomy, reflects the accomplished die-cutting associated with early Ionian coinage of the sixth century BC. |
|---|---|
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| Edge | Plain |
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| Additional information |
The Weidauer 131–132 attribution places this piece among the earliest phase of Greek coinage, predating the adoption of silver as the dominant monetary metal in Ionia. Electrum — the naturally occurring gold-silver alloy found in the riverbeds of Lydia — was the material of first choice precisely because it required no refining to a fixed standard, though its variable composition made trust in the issuing authority essential.
The uncertain civic attribution is genuine, not a cataloging gap. Many early Ionian staters circulated across city boundaries without the kind of identifying inscription that later coinage would carry, making definitive assignment to a single polis effectively impossible.