In any case, and whatever may have been the exact sequence of events, after a time it is clear that the 1/2 and 1/4 stater fractions were discontinued everywhere, and the 1/3 stater (or in
ELECTRUM COIN EBAY SERIES
(At Samos there seems to haveīeen less of a problem, although one early series did in fact mix a 1/3 stater with very similar 1/2 and 1/4 staters, but after that the 1/3 stater was dropped and new fractional denominations were based on theġ/6th stater, which was easily distinguished from the earlier types). The type at Miletus, and that the change to three punches was made in order to distinguish the later 1/2 staters from the new 1/3 staters, which now appropriated the two-punch reverse. What does this mean? One possible interpretation is that the two-punch 1/2 staters represent the earliest versions of They were soon incorporated into the striated series at Miletus and the various issues of Samos, and, as the "smooth (and rough) unfigured types", they also make up what seem to be the earliest regular issues ofĪt Miletus it seems that for a time 1/2 staters were still issued alongside the new 1/3 and 1/6 staters, as they share punches with the new types, but we notice an interesting fact -Īlthough most of these 1/2 staters have three reverse punches, some feature only two ^^. Just where and when these new denominations originated is not clear, but That a new series of denominations was introduced, based on 1/3 staters, with fractions ranging down to 1/96 stater (and even 1/192 stater).
ELECTRUM COIN EBAY PLUS
Mint on the Samian standard) and Ionia B (probably Miletus**), together with a limited range of associated binary fractions - 1/2 and 1/4 staters, plus the odd 1/8 stater ^. Initially we have unfigured "staters" from Samos (or at least a I will say however that, taking the charts at face value, it would seem likely that coinage was introduced in two phases. (For more details see the Appendix below "The Introduction of Electrum Coinage"). I'm not going to try to answer these questionsĭefinitively here myself, but I hope that the data as presented here will help readers assess the various theories that have been put forward over the years, and to understand the problems still to be solved in this Ultimately of course the basic aim of the study of these early types is to determine when and where (and why) coinage was first introduced.
These charts can be found on the "Early Electrum Coins" page. Some charts of images of the key early electrum issues, ordered in space and time, down to roughly the fall of Croesus. Therefore, in order to give collectors a better overall understanding of these types and how they relate together I have taken the limited evidence that we do have to go on and put together Surprisingly this is enough to discourage the interest of many collectors, particularly as even the smaller examples of these types are not exactly cheap.
Result ordinary collectors often see these coins as a bewildering confusion of unattributed types, and hence they hardly know where to start when trying to put together a meaningful collection of the period. Where and when these types were struck, so that a definitive study of them is not as yet possible, and hence there is no single comprehensive and up to date catalog of these types to which collectors can turn*. However, they are faced with the problem that we still have very limited knowledge of exactly Most collectors of ancient coins are naturally interested in the early electrum issues of Ionia and Lydia. This site is meant to provide ordinary collectors of ancient coins with a basic guide to the earliest coins in the western world, namely the electrum issues of Ionia and Lydia, and the gold
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