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⅙ Stater - Kroisos
| Issuer | Kings of Lydia |
|---|---|
| Year | 560 BC - 546 BC |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Confronted foreparts of a lion to the right and a bull to the left, rendered in the archaic Lydian style characteristic of the Kroisos coinage. The lion, depicted with open jaws and a stylized mane rendered through incised linear hatching, faces the bull's forepart across the central field. The bull's head is shown with prominent horns and a rounded muzzle. The design occupies the full flan with no border or legend, the figures rendered in bold relief typical of royal Lydian gold staters and their fractions. |
|---|---|
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| Mint | Sardis |
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| Additional information |
Kroisos reformed Lydia's coinage around 560 BC by separating gold and silver into distinct series — ending the earlier electrum tradition and producing what are arguably the first bimetallic state coinage system in history. This sixth-stater is the smallest denomination in that gold series, likely intended for retail transactions rather than the large-value payments the heavier staters handled. The kingdom fell to Cyrus the Great in 546 BC, and Persian forces melted much of the royal treasury; that Kroisid gold survived at all in any quantity owes largely to temple dedications at Delphi and elsewhere, which kept pieces out of the melt.