Miletos was among the earliest Greek cities to adopt coinage, and its electrum issues predate the widespread standardization that would later define Greek minting practice. The natural alloy used here — mined from river deposits in the Lydian hinterland — varied in gold-to-silver ratio from piece to piece, a fact that made large-denomination electrum inherently problematic for trade and almost certainly contributed to the city's eventual shift toward silver coinage.
The SNG Kayhan reference places this piece within a well-documented Anatolian collection and confirms its die alignment within established typological sequences for the series.
Miletos was among the earliest Greek cities to adopt coinage, and its electrum issues predate the widespread standardization that would later define Greek minting practice. The natural alloy used here — mined from river deposits in the Lydian hinterland — varied in gold-to-silver ratio from piece to piece, a fact that made large-denomination electrum inherently problematic for trade and almost certainly contributed to the city's eventual shift toward silver coinage.
The SNG Kayhan reference places this piece within a well-documented Anatolian collection and confirms its die alignment within established typological sequences for the series.