GREEK. KINGS OF LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 564/53-550/39 BC. Silver Stater (10.85g). Sardes mint. Confronted foreparts of lion and bull / Two incuse squares. Berk 20; Kurth S1; Traite I 407-8; SNG Ashmolean 760. VF. This silver stater belongs to the very first true bimetallic monetary system in history. As the final ruler of the Lydian kingdom before its conquest by Persia, Kroisos replaced the uncertain electrum coinage of his predecessors with carefully regulated gold and silver denominations, setting new standards of weight, purity, and trust in trade. The silver staters, issued from the royal mint and backed by Lydia's immense wealth from regional trade routes and the gold-rich waters of the Pactolus, circulated widely across the Greek world, Asia Minor, and the Near East, where they were recognised as a prestigious and reliable medium of exchange. In doing so, they functioned not only as instruments of commerce but also as deliberate expressions of royal authority and economic sophistication at the height of Lydian power. Although Kroisos fell to Cyrus the Great, the monetary model he created was adopted and refined by the Achaemenids and later Greek and Hellenistic states, giving these staters a foundational place in the story of coinage and early monetary economies. For the type see; Triton XXII, lot 263, hammered US$12,000. (P)

Estimate: AUD 7500