IONIA, Miletos. Before 575 BC. EL Stater (13.99 gm). Lion reclining left, head reverted, within segmented rectangular frame / Central oblong punch containing a running fox and three pellets; square punch above containing containing stellate pattern; square punch below containing stag's head. Weidauer 126 (different orientation of reverse punches); Boston MFA 1882. Good VF. $3,500.
CNR XXVII, June 2002, lot 37.
Other than the literary tradition ascribing the origin of coinage to the kings of Lydia, there is little evidence for a more exact chronology of early Greek coinage. The tradition, buttressed by limited archaeological studies, does confirm Asia Minor as the place of origin, most likely Lydia or Ionia, and a date somewhere around 650 BC. The alloy, which used a mixture of gold and silver known to the Greeks as elektron, was based on the natural ore found in nugget form in many riverbeds in the region. The earliest globular, typeless coins imitated this natural form, later developing into simple striated and punched patterns of squares, rectangles and swastikas. The earliest true types, such as the lion and horse-head types in the Stevenson collection, may have developed from the use of personal seals, the most widely known being the stater of Ephesos with a stag bearing the inscription "I am a seal of Phanes". These devices later took on the characteristics of civic symbols, although it would be dangerous to link a specific symbol to a particular city in this early period. The intrinsic value of the early electrum, even down to the 1/96 stater and smaller denominations, was too high for use in everyday commerce, and must have seen use only for the transfer of large sums of money. Such transfers would include mercantile transactions, payment of government expenses (mercenaries, tribute, and such), and donatives, either for services rendered to individuals or the state, or to religious foundations. The Artemision deposits, highly significant but still decidedly controversial hoards of early electrum found at the site of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos, are examples of the latter.
The history and distribution of the early electrum coinage of Asia Minor is known only in the broadest outline. While certain types, such as the stag of Ephesos and the seal of Phokaia can be identified with some certainty as distinctive civic badges, the vast majority of attributions can be based only on educated guesswork, aided by reports of site finds such as the great Artemision deposit of 1904-1905. Some order can be put to the confusing series by identifying which weight standard was used for striking coinage. The cities of Asia Minor were grouped into informal leagues or trading networks, sharing the same standards. The two most common stater standards are named after the most prominent of these cities, Miletos (Milesian, c.14.1 grams) and Phokaia (Phokaic, c.16.2 grams). Other weight standards have been identified as Croesid (later Persian, c. 10.8 grams), Aeginetan (c.12.5 grams), Lampsacene (c.15.3 grams) and Euboic-Attic (c.17 grams).
