Editing Coin (section)

=== Iron Age ===

==== Lydian and Ionian electrum coins (c. 600 BC)====
[[File:KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes. Circa 620-10-564-53 BC.jpg|thumb|Coin of [[Alyattes]] of [[Lydia]], {{c.|620/10–564/53}} BC]]
[[File:Triti, Phanes, 625-600 BC, Ionia - 301224.jpg|right|thumb|The earliest inscribed coinage: [[electrum]] coin of [[Phanes (coin issuer)|Phanes]] from [[Ephesus#Archaic period|Ephesus]], 625–600 BC. Obverse: [[Stag]] grazing right, ΦΑΝΕΩΣ (retrograde). Reverse: Two incuse punches, each with raised intersecting lines.<ref name="cngcoins.com">{{cite book |title=CNG: IONIA, Ephesos. Phanes. Circa 625–600 BC. EL Trite (14mm, 4.67 g). |url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=301224}}</ref>]]
The earliest coins are mostly associated with [[Iron Age Anatolia]] of the late 7th century BC, and especially with the kingdom of [[Lydia]].<ref>M. Kroll, review of G. Le Rider's ''La naissance de la monnaie'', ''Schweizerische Numismatische Rundschau'' '''80''' (2001), p. 526. D. Sear, Greek Coins and Their Values Vol. 2, Seaby, London, 1979, p. 317.</ref> Early [[electrum]] coins (an alluvial alloy of gold and silver, varying wildly in proportion, and usually about 40–55% gold) were not standardized in weight, and in their earliest stage may have been ritual objects, such as badges or medals, issued by priests.<ref>[https://www.forumancientcoins.com/dannyjones/Greek%20Coin%20Books/Types%20of%20Greek%20Coins%20-%20Gardner.pdf "The Types of Greek Coins" An Archaeological Essay] (PDF) by Percy Gardner 1883 p.42 "Considering these and other facts it may be held to be probable, if not absolutely proved, that priests first issued stamped coin, and that the first mints were in Greek temples." <!-- Dead link - see new above [http://dln2.comyr.com/PDF/7682.pdf] {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}--></ref> The unpredictability of the composition of naturally occurring electrum implied that it had a variable value, which greatly hampered its development.<ref name="WM49"/>

Most of the early Lydian coins include no writing ("myth" or "inscription"), only an image of a symbolic animal. Therefore, the dating of these coins relies primarily on archaeological evidence, with the most commonly cited evidence coming from excavations at the [[Temple of Artemis at Ephesus]], also called the Ephesian Artemision (which would later evolve into one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]). This was the site of the earliest known deposit of electrum coins.<ref name="cngcoins.com"/> Anatolian Artemis was the [[Potnia Theron|Πότνια Θηρῶν]] (''Potnia Thêrôn'', "Mistress of Animals"), whose symbol was the [[stag]]. It took some time before ancient coins were used for commerce and trade{{citation needed|date=July 2019}}. Even the smallest-denomination electrum coins, perhaps worth about a day's subsistence, would have been too valuable for buying a loaf of bread.<ref>"Hoards, Small Change, and the Origin of Capitalism", Journal of the Hellenistic Studies 84 (1964), p. 89</ref> Maybe the first coins to be used for retailing on a large-scale basis were likely small silver fractions, Hemiobol, [[Ancient Greek coinage]] minted by the [[Ionians|Ionian Greeks]] in the late sixth century BC.<ref>M. Mitchiner, Ancient Trade and Early Coinage, Hawkins Publications, London, 2004, p. 214</ref>

In contrast [[Herodotus]] mentioned the innovation made by the Lydians:<ref name="WM49"/>
{{blockquote|So far as we have any knowledge, they [the Lydians] were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins, and the first who sold goods by retail.|Herodotus, I94<ref name="WM49"/>}}
And both [[Aristotle]] (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and [[Julius Pollux|Pollux]] (Onamastikon IX.83), mention that the first issuer of coinage was [[Hermodike II|Hermodike/Demodike of Cyme]].<ref name="Muscarella"/> [[Cyme (Aeolis)|Cyme]] was a city in [[Aeolis|Aeolia]], nearby Lydia.
{{blockquote|Another example of local pride is the dispute about coinage, whether the first one to strike it was Pheidon of Argos, or Demodike of Kyme (who was wife of Midas the Phrygian and daughter of King Agammemnon of Kyme), or Erichthonios and Lycos of Athens, or the Lydians (as Xenophanes says) or the Naxians (as Anglosthenes thought).|Julius Pollux, Onamastikon IX.83<ref name="Muscarella">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5AOw0GB0zHsC&q=%22Another+example+of+local+pride+is+the+dispute%22&pg=PA705|title = Archaeology, Artifacts and Antiquities of the Ancient Near East: Sites, Cultures, and Proveniences|isbn = 978-9004236691|last1 = Muscarella|first1 = Oscar White|date = 15 June 2013| publisher=BRILL }}</ref>}}
Many early Lydian and Greek coins were minted under the authority of private individuals and are thus more akin to tokens or badges than to modern coins,<ref>G. Hanfmann, pp. 73, 77. R. Seaford, p. 128, points out, "The nearly total lack of … coins in the excavated commercial-industrial areas of Sardis suggests that they were concentrated in the hands of the king and possibly wealthy merchants."</ref> though due to their numbers it is evident that some were official state issues. The earliest inscribed coins are those of [[Phanes (coin issuer)|Phanes]], dated to 625–600 BC from [[Ephesus]] in [[Ionia]], with the legend ΦΑΕΝΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣHΜΑ (or similar) ("I am the badge/sign/mark of Phanes/light") or just bearing the name ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ("of Phanes").

The first electrum coins issued by a monarch are those minted by king [[Alyattes of Lydia]] (died {{Circa|560 BC}}), for which reason this king is sometimes mentioned as the originator of coinage.<ref>A. Ramage, "Golden Sardis", King Croesus' Gold: Excavations at Sardis and the History of Gold Refining, edited by A. Ramage and P. Craddock, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2000, p. 18.</ref>

====Croesus: Pure gold and silver coins====
{{multiple image
| direction         = vertical
| align             = right
| header            = Croeseids
| caption_align     = center
| image1            = KINGS of LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 561-546 BC. AV Stater (16mm, 10.73 g). Heavy series. Sardes mint.jpg
| width1            = 220
| caption1          = <small>Gold Croeseid, minted by King [[Croesus]], c. 561–546 BC. (10.7 grams, [[Sardis]] mint)</small>
| image2            = KINGS of LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 560-546 BC. AR Stater.jpg
| width2            = 220
| caption2          = <small>Silver Croeseid, minted by King Croesus, c. 560–546 BC (10.7 grams, Sardis mint) </small>
| footer            = The gold and silver Croeseids formed the world's first [[bimetallism|bimetallic monetary system]], c. 550 BC.<ref name="WM49">{{cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=William E. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199372188 |pages=49–50 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trkUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA49 |language=en}}</ref>
| footer_align      = center
}}

The successor of Alyattes, king [[Croesus]] (r. c. 560–546 BC), became associated with great wealth in Greek historiography. He is credited with issuing the ''[[Croeseid]]'', the first true [[gold coin]]s with a standardized purity for general circulation.<ref name="WM49"/> and the world's first [[bimetallism|bimetallic monetary system]] c. 550 BC.<ref name="WM49"/>

Coins spread rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BC, leading to the development of [[Ancient Greek coinage]] and [[Achaemenid coinage]], and further to [[Illyrian coinage]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Cent|url=http://worldcoincatalog.com/Contents/Invention/invention.htm|access-date=7 March 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150306054054/http://worldcoincatalog.com/Contents/Invention/invention.htm|archive-date=6 March 2015}}</ref>

====Achaemenid coinage (546–330 BC)====
{{main|Achaemenid coinage}}
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| caption_align     = center
| image1            = PERSIA, Achaemenid Empire. temp. Darios I. Circa 520-505 BC.jpg
| width1            = 233
| caption1          = The first type of Siglos (Type I: "King with bow and arrows", upper body of the king only), from the time of Darius I, c. 520–505 BC
| image2            = Achaemenid coin daric 420BC front.jpg
| width2            = 130
| caption2          = Daric gold coin, c. 490 BC; one of the most successful of Antiquity.
}}

When [[Cyrus the Great]] (550–530 BC) came to power, coinage was unfamiliar in his realm. Barter and to some extent silver [[bullion]] was used instead for trade.<ref name="WM"/> The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current in [[Central Asia]] from the 6th century.<ref name = bivar/>

Cyrus the Great introduced coins to the Persian Empire after 546 BC, following his conquest of [[Lydia]] and the defeat of its king [[Croesus]], who had put in place the first coinage in history. With his conquest of Lydia, Cyrus acquired a region in which coinage was invented, developed through advanced metallurgy, and had already been in circulation for about 50 years, making the Lydian Kingdom one of the leading trade powers of the time.<ref name="WM"/> It seems Cyrus initially adopted the Lydian coinage as such, and continued to strike Lydia's lion-and-bull coinage.<ref name="WM"/>

Original coins of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] were issued from 520 BC – 450 BC to 330 BC. The Persian [[Daric]] was the first truly Achaemenid [[gold coin]] which, along with a similar silver coin, the [[Siglos]], represented the bimetallic [[monetary standard]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian Empire]].<ref name=iranica>Michael Alram, [http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/daric "DARIC"], ''[[Encyclopaedia Iranica]]'', December 15, 1994, last updated November 17, 2011</ref>

=====Coinage of Southern Asia under the Achaemenid Empire=====
{{see also|Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley|Coinage of India}}
[[File:Achaemenid_siglos_Kabul.jpg|thumb|upright|A siglos found in the [[Kabul hoard|Kabul valley]], 5th century BC. Coins of this type were also found in the [[Bhir Mound]] hoard.<ref name="Errington Bhir mound">{{citation |last1=Bopearachchi |first1=Osmund |author-link=Osmund Bopearachchi|last2=Cribb |first2=Joe |article=Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia |editor1-last=Errington |editor1-first=Elizabeth |editor2-last=Cribb |editor2-first=Joe |editor3-last=Claringbull |editor3-first=Maggie |title=The Crossroads of Asia: transformation in image and symbol in the art of ancient Afghanistan and Pakistan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pfLpAAAAMAAJ |pages=57–59|year=1992 |publisher=Ancient India and Iran Trust |isbn=978-0-9518399-1-1 |ref={{sfnref|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992}}|quote =Coins of this type found in Chaman Hazouri (deposited c.350 BCE) and Bhir Mound hoards (deposited c.300 BCE).}}</ref><ref name=JC/>]]
The Achaemenid Empire already reached the doors of [[India]] during the original expansion of [[Cyrus the Great]], and the [[Achaemenid conquest of the Indus Valley]] is dated to c. 515 BC under [[Darius I]].<ref name="WM"/> An Achaemenid administration was established in the area. The [[Kabul hoard]], also called the Chaman Hazouri hoard,<ref name=OB300>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi, Coin Production and Circulation|2000|pages=300–301}}</ref> is a coin hoard discovered in the vicinity of [[Kabul]], [[Afghanistan]], containing numerous [[Achaemenid]] coins as well as many [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BC.<ref name=JC>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi & Cribb, Coins illustrating the History of the Crossroads of Asia|1992|pp=57–59}}: "The most important and informative of these hoards is the Chaman Hazouri hoard from Kabul discovered in 1933, which contained royal Achaemenid sigloi from the western part of the Achaemenid Empire, together with a large number of Greek coins dating from the fifth and early fourth century BCE, including a local imitation of an Athenian tetradrachm, all apparently taken from circulation in the region."</ref> The deposit of the hoard is dated to the Achaemenid period, in approximately 380 BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Bopearachchi, Coin Production and Circulation|2000|p=309 and Note 65}}</ref> The hoard also contained many locally produced silver coins, minted by local authorities under Achaemenid rule.<ref name="WM70">{{cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=William E. |title=The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage |date=2016 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=9780199372188 |pages=70–80 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trkUDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA63 |language=en}}</ref> Several of these issues follow the "western designs" of the facing bull heads, a stag, or Persian column capitals on the obverse, and incuse punch on the reverse.<ref name="WM70"/><ref>{{cite book |last1=André-Salvini |first1=Béatrice |title=Forgotten Empire: The World of Ancient Persia |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520247314 |page=208 Coin no.381 for the Persian column capitals |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kJnaKu9DdNEC&pg=PA208 |language=en}}</ref>

According to numismatist [[Joe Cribb]], these finds suggest that the idea of coinage and the use of punch-marked techniques was introduced to India from the Achaemenid Empire during the 4th century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Cribb, Investigating the introduction of coinage in India|1983|p=101}}</ref> More Achaemenid coins were also found in [[Pushkalavati]] and in [[Bhir Mound]].<ref name="CNG 309206"/>

<gallery>
File:Achaemenid Empire coin. Uncertain mint in the Kabul Valley. Circa 500-380 BCE.jpg|alt=Punch-marked coin minted in the Kabul Valley under Achaemenid administration. Circa 500–380 BCE, or c.350 BCE.|Punch-marked coin minted in the Kabul Valley under Achaemenid administration, c. 500–380 BC, or c. 350 BC.<ref name="CNG 309874">[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=309874 "Extremely Rare Early Silver from the Kabul Valley", CNG 102, Lot:649], CNG Coins</ref><ref name=JC/>
File:Gandhara bent bar.jpg|[[Gandhara]]n "bent-bar" punch-marked coin minted under Achaemenid administration, of the type found in large quantities in the Chaman Hazouri and the [[Bhir Mound]] hoards.
File:Gandhara1.JPG|Early [[punch-marked coins]] of Gandhara,  [[Taxila]]-[[Gandhara]] region.
</gallery>

====Greek Archaic coinage (until about 480 BC)====
{{further|Archaic period of ancient Greek coinage}}
[[File:Aegina Stater achaic.jpg|thumb|Silver [[stater]] of Aegina, 550–530&nbsp;BC. Obv. [[Sea turtle]] with large pellets down centre. Rev. incuse square punch with eight sections.]]
[[File:Athens coin discovered in Pushkalavati.jpg|thumb|Athenian coin (c. 500/490–485 BC) discovered in the [[Shaikhan Dehri hoard]] in [[Pushkalavati]], [[Pakistan]]. This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east.<ref name="CNG 199773">[https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199773 "A Truly International Currency", Triton XV, Lot: 1163, ATTICA, Athens] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191225205951/https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=199773 |date=2019-12-25 }}, CNG Coins</ref>]]
According to [[Aristotle]] (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and [[Julius Pollux|Pollux]] (Onamastikon IX.83), the first issuer of Greek coinage was [[Hermodike II|Hermodike of Kyme]].<ref name="Muscarella"/>

A small percentage of early Lydian/Greek coins have a legend.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/inscriptions.html |title=Inscriptions and Titles on ancient Greek coins |publisher=Snible.org |access-date=2012-05-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608153318/http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/inscriptions.html |archive-date=2012-06-08 }}</ref> The most ancient inscribed coin known is from nearby [[Caria]]. This coin has a Greek legend reading ''phaenos emi sema''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/e/electrum_stater_inscribed_with.aspx |title=Electrum stater inscribed with the name of Phanes |publisher=British Museum |date=2011-09-29 |access-date=2012-05-21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515212641/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/e/electrum_stater_inscribed_with.aspx |archive-date=2012-05-15 }}</ref> interpreted variously as "I am the badge of Phanes", or "I am the sign of light".<ref>{{cite journal |last=Newton|first=Charles Thomas|journal=[[The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Numismatic Society]]|publisher=[[Royal Numismatic Society]]|year=1870|volume=10|page=238 |title=On an electrum stater, possibly of Ephesus |url=https://archive.org/details/numismaticchron49britgoog/page/n342/mode/2up|via=[[Archive.org]]|jstor=42680883|jstor-access=free }}</ref> The [[Phanes coins]] are among the earliest of Greek coins; a [[hemihekte]] of the issue was found in the foundation deposit of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos (the oldest deposit of [[electrum]] coins discovered). One assumption is that Phanes was a mercenary mentioned by Herodotus, another that this coin is associated with the primeval god [[Phanes (mythology)|Phanes]] or "Phanes" might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis.  [[Barclay V. Head]] found these suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Head |first1=Barclay V. |title=Historia Numorum, A Manual of Greek Numismatics, New and Enlarged Edition |date= 1911 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=London |url=http://snible.org/coins/hn/ionia.html#571 |access-date=25 October 2021}}</ref>

Another candidate for the site of the earliest coins is [[Aegina]], where [[Chelone (Greek mythology)|Chelone]] ("turtle") coins were first minted c. 700 BC.<ref>British Museum Catalogue 11 – [https://web.archive.org/web/20131221023256/https://docs.google.com/file/d/0ByKcmdYWS2bZWVpFLWRtVXd0Ulk/edit?pli=1 Attica Megaris Aegina], 700 – 550 BCE, plate [http://www.snible.org/coins/bmc/attica/XXIII.jpg XXIII] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032457/http://www.snible.org/coins/bmc/attica/XXIII.jpg |date=2016-03-04 }}.</ref> Coins from [[Classical Athens|Athens]] and [[Ancient Corinth|Corinth]] appeared shortly thereafter, known to exist at least since the late 6th century BC.<ref>C. Kraay, Archaic and Classical Greek Coins, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1976.</ref>

<gallery>
File:LYCIA, Phaselis. Circa 550-530-20 BC.jpg|Coin of [[Phaselis]], Lycia, c. 550–530/20 BC.
File:LYCIA, Uncertain king. Circa 520-470-60 BC.jpg|Coin of Lycia, c. 520–470/60 BC.
File:LYCIA, Uncertain. Circa 520-470-60 BC.jpg|alt=Lycia coin. Circa 520-470 BCE. Struck with worn obverse die.|Lycia coin, c. 520-470 BC. Struck with worn obverse die.<ref>{{cite book|title=CNG: LYCIA. Circa 520–470/60 BCE. AR Stater (18mm, 9.18 g).|url=https://www.cngcoins.com/Coin.aspx?CoinID=347325}}</ref>
File:LESBOS, Unattributed Koinon mint. Circa 510-480 BC.jpg|Coin of [[Lesbos]], [[Ionia]], c. 510–80 BC.
</gallery>