Sale: Triton IX, Lot: 938. Estimate $10000.  Closing Date: Monday, 9 January 2006.  Sold For $38000. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

IONIA, Uncertain. Circa 650-600 BC. EL Stater (14.32 g). Milesian standard. Striated type. Flattened striated surface / Two rough incuse punches separated by a cleft. Cf. Weidauer 5 (trite); Traité I 16 = BMC 1 (Miletos; same cleft); Triton VIII, lot 430-431; Triton VII, lot 242; CNG 70, lot 270 (same cleft and one punch); CNG 69, lot 420 (same cleft and punches); CNG 67, lot 701 (same cleft and punches). VF. Extremely rare, one of seven known staters of this type. ($10,000)

The same cleft was also used on the following hemistaters: CNG 70, lot 271; CNG 69, lot 421; and CNG 67, lot 702. The punch on the right was also used on the trite below (lot 940), and the following hemistaters and trites: Triton VIII, lot 434; CNG 70, lots 271 and 272; CNG 69, lots 421-422; and CNG 67, lots 702 and 703.

The Origin of Coinage

Other than the literary tradition ascribing the origin of coinage to the kings of Lydia, there is little evidence for a more exact chronology of early Greek coinage. The tradition, buttressed by limited archaeological studies, does confirm Asia Minor as the place of origin, most likely Lydia or Ionia, and a date somewhere around 650-625 BC. The alloy used, a mixture of gold and silver known to the Greeks as elektron was based on the natural ore found in nugget form in many river-beds in the region. The earliest coins were of a globular shape and without design in imitation of this natural form; later, simple striated and punched patterns of squares, rectangles, and swastikas were included. The earliest true types may have developed from the use of personal seals, the most widely known being the stater of Ephesos with a stag bearing the inscription “I am a seal of Phanes”. These devices later took on the characteristics of civic symbols, although it would be dangerous to link a specific symbol to a particular city in this early period. The most sÉcure form of classification has been by weight standard, based on two major, and several lesser-used, standards. The Milesian standard, with a stater of circa 14 grams, saw circulation in Lydia and parts of Ionia. The Phokaic standard of circa 16 grams was also used in Ionia as well as Mysia. Persic, Aeginetan, and Euboic standards saw scattered use in early coinage, limited in time and extent of circulation. The intrinsic value of the early electrum, even down to the 1/96 stater, was too high for use in everyday commerce, and early coinage must have been used only for the transfer of large sums of money, such as mercantile transactions, payment of government expenses (mercenaries, tribute and such), and donatives, either for services rendered to individuals or the state, or to religious foundations. The Artemision deposits, hoards of early electrum found at the site of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos, are examples of the latter.