Kroisos Prototype Stater

Triton XX, Lot: 298. Estimate $30000. Sold for $35000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

KINGS of LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 564/53-550/39 BC. AV Stater (18.5mm, 10.71 g). Heavy standard. Sardes mint. Prototype issue. Confronted foreparts of lion, with sun on forehead, and bull / Two incuse squares. Berk 1; Konuk & Lorber fig. 25 = CH VIII, pl. I, Hoard 7, no. 40 = Triton XV, lot 1243 (same obv. die; realized $150,000); Athena Fund I 58; McClean 8635; NAIM-BAN 6; Ward 723 (same obv. die); Triton XVIII, lot 656 (same obv. die; realized $130,000); CNG 100, lot 1491 (same obv. die; realized $75,000); CNG 99, lot 255 (same obv. die; realized $40,000). Near EF. Very rare.

The 'Kroisos' type coinage is one of the most recognizable of all ancient Greek coinage. All of the issues in the bimetallic, gold and silver, series feature the same confronted lion and bull foreparts on the obverse, and two incuse punches (or a single punch in the case of small denominations) on the reverse. It is thought that the series began on a 'heavy' standard, with gold and silver staters of equal weight, around 10.6-10.7 grams, which was later reduced to about 8.17 grams for the gold. More recently, though, studies have shown that coins of both standards circulated together, but that the heavy standard was only used for a relatively short time compared to the light standard, which continued to be used into the Persian period. The Kroiseids have also traditionally been broken down into two stylistic groups, 'realistic' and 'stylized', with hoard evidence suggesting that the former belonged to the time of Kroisos, while the latter were of the time of the Persians. The present coin, however, is from an issue that constitutes a third group that has a more archaic style, which has features that suggest it is the first issue of Kroisos' bimetallic coinage.

This prototype issue was first noted and analyzed in an article by Paolo Naster in 1964 ("Une série aberrante de Créséides" in BSFN 19 (1964), pp. 364–5, reprinted in P. Naster, Scripta Nummaria: Contributions à la méthodologie numismatique [Louvian-la-Neuve, 1983], pp. 76–7). The archaic character of the type is most evident in the bull, where the fine waves of hair on the later coinage are here represented as a series of pelleted lines emanating from a solid arc that forms the animal's neckline. At the same time, antecedents of the style of the lion can be seen in the earlier electum coinage, particularly the hemihektai of Wiedauer's Group XVI. The most significant feature linking this issue to the electrum, though, is the appearance of the small pellet or protuberance on the head of the lion. This feature, usually featuring rays emanating from it, is canonical on all the earlier electrum coinage from the time of Ardys until the early part of Kroisos' reign. It is a feature that is totally lacking on the bimetallic coinage of the 'realistic' and, later, 'stylized' character. A final unusual feature particular to this issue is the depiction of the arms of the lion and bull, which are shown bent nearly 90 degrees at their mid-point, rather than in a straight line from shoulder to paw and hoof.

The extreme rarity today of these early style staters also suggests that the issue was short-lived, perhaps a trial run before the style was standardized. Martin Price also noted this unusual emission of staters ("Croesus or Pseudo-Croesus?" in Festschrift Mildenberg, p. 221, n. 25), and, like Naster, placed them between the electrum and the gold of standard style.