In 133 BC, it became part of the Roman province of Asia….Lydia. In 546 BC, it became a province of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, known as the satrapy of Lydia or Sparda in Old Persian. The Lydians minted coins of consistent weight and purity to speed up transactions. To establish its value metal was checked for purity and weighed. How did the Lydians show value on their coins?īefore coins, payments were made with metal bullion or by barter. Thus the royal Lydian coinage emerged among the earliest coins altogether, perhaps forming the first series of coins from the Western hemisphere. Lydian electrum coins were found in excavations together with the earliest electrum coins minted by the Greek cities of Ionia. True coins, made of electrum–a mineral combining gold and at least 20 percent silver–were first minted in the ancient kingdoms of Lydia and Ionia. Gilded bronze shell-shaped coins were in use around 1100 BC for ceremonial or government purposes. World’s Earliest Coins Early Chinese money developed from cowrie shells. Which kind of coins were used in early empires? During their brief hegemony over Asia Minor from the middle of the 7th to the middle of the 6th century bc, the Lydians profoundly influenced the Ionian Greeks to their west. The Lydians were said to be the originators of gold and silver coins. The reason emerged around the year 2000, when the exciting discovery was made that the Lydians could control the gold content of their electrum coins closely. The Lydian motives Why did the Lydians coin the electrum? After all, they could simply have circulated the unadulterated metal, cut into proper parts, as money. The Lydian stater was composed of electrum, a naturally-occurring gold-silver alloy though the coins are often reported to be struck from this naturally-occurring alloy, they were actually made from a specific and rather consistent mix of approximately 55% gold, 45% silver, and a small balance of copper. 8 Why was the Lydian stater so important to history?.7 Where was the first Lydian electrum coin made?.6 What is the value of a Lydian Stater?.4 How did the Lydians show value on their coins?.

Electrum coin description