From the Beginnings of Coinage 978612. KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes. Circa 620/10-564-53 BC. Lot of four (4) EL Trites. KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes. Circa 620/10-564/53 BC. EL Trite (12mm, 4.73 g). Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion right, “sun” on forehead; ©e√©å√ (WALWEL in Lydian) downward on right, read from outside-in; all on plain background / Two square punches. Weidauer Group XVII, 91–2. Good VF, a little die rust. Very rare, especially with full type and legend clearly visible.
KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes.Circa 620/10-564/53 BC. EL Trite (12mm, 4.65 g). Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion right, “sun” on forehead; [√]A©√e[©] (WALWEL in retrograde Lydian) downward on right, read from inside-out; all on stippled background / Two square punches. Weidauer Group XVII, 91–2 var. (plain background and different legend orientation). Near EF. Extremely rare with stippled background.
KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes. Circa 620/10-564/53 BC. EL Trite (12mm, 4.73 g). Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion left, “sun” on forehead; ©e√©å√ (WALWEL in Lydian) downward on left, read from inside-out; all on plain background / Two square punches. Weidauer Group XVII, 93–4. Good VF, a little die rust. Very rare, especially with full type and legend clearly visible.
KINGS of LYDIA. Alyattes. Circa 620/10-564/53 BC. EL Trite (12mm, 4.71 g). Sardes mint. Head of roaring lion left, “sun” on forehead; [√]A©√e[©] (WALWEL in retrograde Lydian) downward on left, read from outside-in; all on stippled background / Two square punches. Weidauer Group XVII, 93–4 var. (plain background and different legend orientation). Good VF, a touch of die rust. Extremely rare with stippled background.
Four (4) coins in lot.
($67,500)
The Kingdom of Lydia, under the Mermnad dynasty, may well have been the originator of Western coinage. Other than Herodotos’ attestation that the first gold and silver coins were struck by the kings of Lydia (Herodotos 1.94), there is no ancient literary evidence for the origin of coinage. The evidence regarding electrum coins – the earliest – are primarily based on analysis of the coin deposits at the Artemision of Ephesos, as well as other archaeological sites and hoards. This evidence strongly suggests that coinage originated in western Asia Minor in the mid seventh century BC. The dating of this event has recently been revised upward, as a re-analysis of the Artemision has shown that the electrum coins found there were deposited prior to circa 640-620 BC, when the second temple was built on the site. Traditionally, electrum was thought to have been a naturally occurring alloy in the rivers and streams of Lydia; an idea that can be traced to the 19th century, which was subsequently popularized by Head in his magisterial work, Historia Nummorum. Recent research, however, has conclusively shown not only that this idea is incorrect, but also that there were virtually no other electrum deposits that could have been used. Rather than possessing rich deposits of electrum, Lydia had significant deposits of gold and silver. The decision to use electrum for coins, rather than pure gold or silver, was thus intentional, though we do not yet know why this was done. A plausible theory is that it was done to create a closed monetary economy within the kingdom. Electrum was also issued contemporaneously at various cities in Ionia and Caria, but all of these cities were under the influence of Lydia from the early seventh century, and certainly would have been constituent parts of the kingdom’s economic sphere. The lion head/incuse coinage is among the earliest firmly attributed to the Lydian kingdom, and its origins date to the time of Alyattes, who ruled circa 620/10-564/53 BC. While most of the coins are anepigraphic, a small number of them bear the inscription Walwel or Kukalim in Lydian. Although these names likely equate to Alyattes and Gyges, respectively, hoard studies have shown that these coins were not only contemprary with one another, but also with the anepigraphic issues. Thus, while Walwel may refer to the king, Kukalim most likely refers to another member of the royal family or some other high official. Current research has also revealed that all trites and hektes with the inscription Walwel or Kukalim are struck from obverse dies that are much larger than the respective denominations require. These dies contain two opposing lion heads with the Lydian inscription between, and the coin blanks were struck off-center, in such a way that only one of the lion heads would be visible with the inscription. The coins above are examples of this method, with each pair being struck from the same die, but on opposite sides. It is uncertain whether the dies were originally intended for a larger denomination, or whether the dies were designed so that coins could be struck with either facing lion head.
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