486 Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [December, 1914. 



146. A Gold Coin of Croesus. 



It is not on record whether a Lydian coin has ever been 

 found in Indian soil before this, but I am sure that a coin of 

 Croesus has not as yet been found anywhere in this country. 

 Only a few specimens of the coinage of this monarch have been 

 discovered and have found their way to the various big 

 Museums of Europe. The coin described below was purchased 

 by me in October last in Mari on the Indus from a money- 

 changer. It is an oblong gold coin with rounded ends bearing 

 on its obverse the front part of a lion and a bull and on the 

 reverse two square impressions, one of which is slightly smaller 

 than the other. 



I stumbled on a reproduction of a similar coin in Prof. 

 J. B. Bury's History of Greece (Macmillan & Co., 1902'), 

 where it is described asa u Gold Coin of Sardis (middle of 6th 

 century). Obverse: — fore parts of a lion and bull, reverse: 

 two incuse squares " I submitted the coin to Babu Rakhal- 

 das B^nerji of the Indian Museum, who pronounced it to be a 

 genuine specimen. 



A similar coin is described in G. F. Hill's Historical Greek 

 Coins, where it is stated that although the attribution on this 

 coin to Croesu3 is not absolutely settled, still it is highly 

 probable that these are Kpoiatva arari/pcs (Kroiseioi Stateres), 

 i.e. Staters of Croesus. 2 They are of fine gold and were 

 struck in two standards; (1) The gold Shekel standard of 

 8-18 grammes = 126 grains, and (2) the Babylonian stan- 

 dard of 10 91 grammes = 168 grains. Similar Staters were 

 also struck in the latter standard. Prof. Bury states that the 

 earlier Lydian coinage was of White metal, i.e. a mixture 

 of silver and gold, and that Croesus was the first King of 

 Lydia, who struck coins in pure gold and silver. The coin 

 purchased by me weighs 10 680 grammes = 164*75 grains. It, 

 therefore, belongs to the Babylonian standard. Coins struck 

 on the Babylonian standard were used for commerce with the 

 East, while those struck on the gold Shekel standard were used 

 for commerce with the Greek cities of the Asia Minor. 3 

 These gold Staters of Croesus are of special interest : 

 (1) They are the first gold coins ever issued as far as we 

 know, and superseded the earlier white metal or electrum 



proportion of gold in these Staters varies from 5 

 %.* Most probably touchstones were used for testing these 



■ **< _ ■ 



coins 



electrum coins, as they must also have been in India where 



1 Top of p. 217. 



* p. 18, No. 7: see also Percy Gardner "The Gold Coins of Asra 

 before Alexander the Great," p. 9. 



8 G. F. HiU, "Historical Greek Coins," p. 19. 



* Percy Gardner, " The Gold Coinage of Asia before Alexander the 

 Great," p. 8. 



