Numizmatičke Vijesti, Vol. 62 No. 73, 2020.
Original scientific paper
The First Minted Coinage
Damir Kovač
; Croatian numismatic society, Zagreb, CRO
Abstract
Historians are most grateful to ancient writers who mentioned the origin of money
in their works, although not often, and thus enabled them to draw certain conclusions.
Pollux, a writer from the period of the Emperor Commodus, discoursed as to whether
the first money began to be minted by Pheidon of Argos, Demodike (Hermodice) from
Cyme, the wife of the Phrygian King Midas or daughter of King Agamemnon of Cyme.
Xenophanus claimed in his works that the first coins were minted in Lydia. According
to the coin evidence available today, it can be clearly concluded that the first coins were
in fact minted in Lydia, and this is confirmed by the data about Pheidon and the quote
from Herodotus: “In Lydia they first minted gold and silver coins”. It is thought that
the minting of the first coins of gold, silver, and electrum (a natural alloy of gold and
silver) began in the 7th century BC. The site of the first mints is most often considered
to be the area of Lydia and Ionia, located in the small region of western Anatolia, today
a part of modern Turkey, while the date of the start of minting is most often cited as
around 660 BC. Ionia and Lydia were particularly well known for engraving gems and
carving seals and stamps. The skills involved in engraving gems were very similar to
those for engraving dies for minting coins. Originally the dies were made of refined
bronze, while later they were made from iron. Making a die for a coin was both expensive
and difficult. These and certain other elements were crucial for the development of the
first monetary system for which precious metals were utilized, which gradually became
denominated and used in trade. King Croesus of Lydia minted the first silver and gold
coinage in Sardis. He was famous and known for his unbelievable wealth, as is even
today witnessed by the saying: “As rich as Croesus”. He was defeated by Cyrus II in 546
BC, and Lydia then came under the rule of Persia. The coinage minted after the fall of
Lydia is similar to the coinage minted during the reign of Croesus, and the differences
are very hard to establish. In this text, the author analyzes primarily the silver coinage
of Lydia, listing and systemizing all denominations of staters from Lydia along with
illustrative material, which so far has not been clearly outlined in the relevant literature.
The majority of the described coins are from the author’s private collection.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
259146
URI
Publication date:
29.11.2020.
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