As we continue our blog series covering Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest Ancient Coins, we look at this third entry that reflects the reign of a King defeated, but a King whose impact continued even after it ended. Harlan J. Berk will lead us through this top ten pick from the series. As always, keep in mind that these coins are ranked accordingly, but the order we maintain will continue with the earliest coins first.
#9 – The Coinage of Croesus (Lydia – 565-546 BC)
From 560 to 546 BC, Croesus was the King of Lydia before he was defeated by King Darius I of Persia. Many believe he was an extraordinary person as the Persians would keep him as “puppet king” even after he was defeated. His lack of ego, in contrast to his predecessors, was most likely the reason he was kept around. An example of this is that he never put his name on his coinage.
Coinage was less than 100 years old when Croesus reigned. Up until that point, coinage was produced from a natural mixture of metals including gold and silver known as electrum. He was the first to use pure gold and silver in addition to creating a complex bimetallic monetary system. At the time, silver and gold traded at a rate of 13:1 with gold and silver staters of 10+ grams at the top of the system. Coin denominations went all the way down to the gold 1/12 stater at .33 grams and a silver 1/24 stater at .36 grams. Within the system, 13 silver staters equaled 1 gold stater.
Croesus was experimental with his coins from the beginning as he would strike three trial coins. The most notable of these three is the heavy gold stater that showcases a leaping lion with a wart on its head facing a bull. The wart on the lion’s head was also on the trites (1/3 staters) which were issued before Croesus by his predecessors. It does not appear on any other of Croesus’ coinage but does symbolize the transitional link that ties things together.
The recorded 1/12 and 1/24 staters in gold and silver were mostly struck with the same dies. This is indicative of very small issues and most likely local use only. It was unheard of for gold and silver coins to be struck with the same dies when it came to the Greeks, but the Romans did prefer this method. They used gold dies to strike silver coins but only after the gold issue was finished striking.
The series of coinage by Croesus featured gold coins that were heavy and light. An example of this is illustrated in the publication by the author. He states the following:
“When I first published an article about the coinage of Croesus in The Celator in 1990, I had recently acquired a heavy 1/24 stater of .42 grams and wrote in the article that a light 1/24 must have existed. Sure enough, a few years later Sotheby’s alerted me that a light 1/24 was coming up in one of their first online auctions; of course I purchased it, and it is illustrated at .33 grams.”
When Croesus was defeated, the Persians no longer used his monetary system for a two-coin issue. Their coins were in gold and silver and “somewhat clumsy,” according to Berk. The lion and the bull are larger, bringing into light the lack of elegance in the design and strike. Many questioned what the lion and the bull meant with Berk drawing the conclusion upon extensive research that the lion is the symbol of strength and power while the bull represents fertility. The coins in Croesus’ reign showcased the Lydians as a strong and fertile people, something that is very important to distinguish in the matters of the ancient world.