T he gold content of naturally occurring electrum in modern Western Anatolia ranges from 70% to 90%, in contrast to the 45–55% of gold in electrum used in the ancient Lydian coinage of the same geographical area. The name of King Croesus of Lydia remains associated with the invention. Gold objects and metal ore were used in commerce in the Ancient Near East since the Bronze Age, but gold coins originated later, during the 6th century BC, in Anatolia. The ancient Greeks called it ‘gold’ or ‘white gold’ instead of ‘refined gold.’ Its color ranges from pale to bright yellow, depending on the proportions of gold and silver.Īncient Lydia was famous for its god that was found in the sands of the River Pactolus. They were made of Electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. This Electrum Gold Coin from Lydia, dated to 650 BC, represents the first coins from the ancient kingdom of Lydia (today in modern Turkey). Retrieved 25 October 2021.Ancient Gold Coins and Gold Bars Electrum Gold Coin from Lydia, 650 BC Archived from the original on 23 January 2022. Historia Numorum, A Manual of Greek Numismatics, New and Enlarged Edition. The numismatic chronicle and journal of the Royal Numismatic Society. ^ "White Gold: Revealing the World's Earliest Coins at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem". ![]() Coins, Bodies, Games, and Gold: The Politics of Meaning in Archaic Greece. Archived from the original on 26 October 2021. Mécanismes et innovations monétaires dans l’Anatolie achéménide. "Common traits on seals and coins of the Achaemenid period in an Anatolian context". ^ "Electrum stater inscribed with the name of Phanes".The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece (Revised ed.). The Early Greek Alphabet: Origin, Diffusion, Uses. "Local Scripts on Archaic Coins: Distribution and Function". Head found those suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus". The coins might be associated with the primeval god Phanes, whose name means "light" or "shine", or that might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis. He might have been the successful mercenary Phanes of Halicarnassus, described by Herodotus as serving first the Egyptian pharaoh Amasis II and then the Persian king Cambyses II in his invasion of Egypt. Phanes cannot be identified with certainty. Stag grazing right, legend unclear, possibly ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ (“I am the badge/sign/mark of Phanes/the bright one”). Identity of Phanes Electrum coin from Ephesus, 625–600 BC. Only six specimens of the stater are known. One, a hemihekte (a twelfth stater) of the issue, was found in a jar in the foundations of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus dated to the late seventh century BC, making that the earliest known hoard of coins. The coins of Phanes are amongst the earliest of Greek coins. The shorter legend, on the 1/3 stater coins, is ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ("Phaneos", meaning "of Phanes"). This may be translated as "I am the badge/mark/symbol of Phanes" or "I am the sign of the bright one". The longer inscription, on the stater, survives in three versions, which read: ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ ("Phaenos emi sema"), ΦΑΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ ("Phanos emi sema"), and ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ΕΙΜΙ ("Phaneos eimi"). The inscriptions are written right-to-left, and the letters are the mirror image of standard Greek letters. The stater and 1/3 stater coins from this series both bear Greek inscriptions. All of the coins have the image of a stag or part of a stag on them. The Phanes coins are a series of electrum coins issued in seven denominations: stater, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48, and 1/96 stater. The Phanes coins, so called for the name inscribed on them, are early electrum coins from Caria in Asia Minor and are the most ancient inscribed coin series at present known. Reverse: Two incuse punches, each with raised intersecting lines. Obverse: Stag grazing right, ΦΑΝΕΩΣ (retrograde). For other uses, see Phanes (disambiguation).
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