By Tyler Rossi for CoinWeek ….. As a divine metal, gold not only served as a store of wealth for the rulers of ancient societies but it was also an earthly representation of unending and incorruptible divinity. Coins struck in gold, while definitely earthlier and more materialistic than religious or decorative items, also retained a […]
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By Michael T. Shutterly for CoinWeek ….. Kroisos, King of Lydia Kroisos, the last king of the Ionian kingdom of Lydia in Asia Minor, launched a revolution in coinage when he minted the world’s first gold coins and first silver coins. With his “kroiseids” he also created the world’s first bi-metallic coinage system. The ancient […]
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In numismatic circles, Croesus is most famous for introducing the world’s first bimetallic standard, issuing coins of both gold and silver. Prior to this, coins were produced in electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. This situation obviously caused a number of problems, most notably because the proportions of gold to silver were […]
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