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Stater: Lion (obverse); Incuse Punches (reverse)

600–550 BCE
(Ionia)
Electrum (gold-silver alloy)
Overall: 1.6 x 2 x 0.8 cm (5/8 x 13/16 x 5/16 in.)
Weight: 13.964 g (0.49 oz.)
Gift of Bruce Ferrini 2000.203
Location: not on view
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Did You Know?

Many early Greek coins are made from electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver.

Description

The lion, king of the beasts and an animal associated with regal and heroic power, featured prominently on the coinage of many ancient Greek city-states. Artists placed the lion in a variety of poses, sometimes including the whole body, at other times the foreparts or just the head. Although it may once have roamed nearby, for many Greeks the lion was a monster nearly as exotic as the Chimaera, of which it formed a part, together with a goat head and snake-headed tail.
Stater: Lion (obverse); Incuse Punches (reverse)

Stater: Lion (obverse); Incuse Punches (reverse)

600–550 BCE

Greek, minted at Miletos (Ionia)

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