Description: Up for sale is a Greek silver coin from the Lydian Kingdom, featuring King Croesus, who ruled from 561 to 546 BC. This coin has been certified by NGC and graded Choice XF, making it a desirable addition to any collection. The denomination of this coin is a half-stater or siglos, and it belongs to the ancient era of Greek history. The coin is in excellent condition and has a certification number of 4284970-008. Don't miss out on the opportunity to own a piece of history with this rare and beautiful coin. Goldberg Auctions wrote this interesting commentary about this type:"The Lydian kingdom was wealthy, to the extent that one could visualize in our times, as having the wealth of a mega-nation. To the ancients it must have seemed legendary. The richest and most successful of the Lydian kings was the last, the fabled Croesus. In fact, a recorded gift of bullion and precious metal ornaments that was gifted to the shrine of Apollo at Delphi, home of the revered Delphic oracle, has been calculated to have contained nearly four tons of gold!Likely the key to his and his empire's wealth was the development and employment of a bimetallic currency system -- the first in history. The earliest coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. The obvious drawback is that the alloy was not always consistent, leaving a degree of variability to the coin's intrinsic value that could be hampering for transactions in the marketplace. Croesus began by refining his gold to about ninety-eight per cent purity, and then added a silver coin, for smaller transactions, with the silver pegged to a specific ratio to the gold -- at a rate already consistent with their market traditions. After some adjusting a rate was settled on of ten silver staters, of about 10.8 grams each, that would equal a gold stater of about 8.17 grams.With this system of fixed rates and values, Lydian currency dominated the commercial life of the region. Croesus' Persian conquerors were so impressed by his coins that they adopted the Lydian system intact. Their only change being that their mainstay silver denomination was the half stater, or siglos (with its ratio of 20:1 in terms of silver to gold). With the siglos (still being uncovered to this day by the thousands throughout the Near East, and even in India), the Persian Great King paid his troops and built his empire"
Price: 1900 USD
Location: Irvine, California
End Time: 2024-10-13T14:02:06.000Z
Shipping Cost: 10.4 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 14 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
Denomination: Siglos
Historical Period: Greek (450 BC-100 AD)
Composition: Silver
Year: 450 BC
Era: Ancient
Certification Number: 4284970-008
Grade: Almost Uncirculated
Certification: NGC
