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The Stag of Artemis
SmEagle1795
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While second nature today, the original use for the earliest coinage is still unknown. It is unlikely that the first person to put an image on a small piece of metal realized that they would change the world forever, starting a substantial departure from millennia-old customs of trade.
During the excavation of the famous Temple of Artemis in Ephesus (present day Turkey near the Black Sea), a group of coins was found which are thought to comprise its “foundation deposit”, believed to prevent the building from falling into ruin.
The largest type in the group, a stater, had an inscription stating “I am the badge of Phanes”. As the earliest coinage was believed to be made by private citizens outside of government control, it is speculated that Phanes was a wealthy merchant, guaranteeing the coin value with his name, although his true identity is unknown.
Trites of the same type also bear the name of Phanes but the smaller denominations are without any inscription. They are instead identified stylistically due to the same spotted stag, shown grazing on the stater and with a turned head on the fractional coins.
The stag allows this coin to be attributed to Ephesus as Artemis, the patron goddess of the city, chose the stag as her sacred animal.
Whether they were originally intended to be used to appease the gods, pay mercenaries, or to fund city projects, coins revolutionized commerce. As our modern world becomes increasingly digital, the concepts pioneered by the first coins still make up the backbone of trade, offering an accessible, neutral medium through which transactions can be processed quickly and fairly.
IONIA, Ephesos. Electrum 1/24th stater. ca.625-600BC, 6mm, 0.6g. Forepart of a stag advancing right with head facing left. 3 ovals on chest. / Incuse punch with raised lines within. BMC Ionia -; Rosen -; Traité -; Weidauer -. Very rare unpublished variety with three ovals on the stag. Nearly extremely fine.
Learn about our world's shared history told through the first millennium of coinage: Colosseo Collection
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And they should be even more exciting to numismatists! They are the alpha of our hobby and our passion.
There is still so much mystery and speculation in these pieces. That just fuels the fascination for me. And as always, your stag piece is awesome.
It's hard to gauge how tiny this particular piece is. That's roughly 1/60th of an ounce--about 1/5th the weight of an American silver dime. Can you post a more recognizable coin next to it for reference?
--Severian the Lame
love the super early stuff, had not seen this type before, very cool
<< <i>I don't understand why dawn of coinage pieces aren't more sought after. >>
They are sought after, even low grade pieces are pretty expensive, and high grade pieces will make your wallet snap closed.
World Collection
British Collection
German States Collection
Here's an example of what I mean.
CRO has this really nice 1865 dime right now:
Don't get me wrong--It's a beautiful coin, in exceptional condition. But it's from a series that lasted 50+ years, with maybe 100,000,000 pieces produced. It's a low mintage year, but not the lowest. And seated dimes were made up until the 1890s.
Here are my icon, a Lydian trite, and its direct descendant, a Lydian siglos. The trite is considered by many to be the first coin ever made, taking into consideration the attributes most often associated with the word "coin" (known weight, purity, issued by the government, etc). The siglos is from the first bi-metallic system of coinage.
You can buy both pieces for what that dime costs, and you'd have a couple thousand dollars left over.
--Severian the Lame
Just my thoughts, from a fan of the era and the coins shown, even though all I know is essentially limited to what's posted in the write-ups about them.
We'll use our hands and hearts and if we must we'll use our heads.
<< <i>I don't understand why dawn of coinage pieces aren't more sought after. Coins which capture history of a specific event, like your Brutus Eid Mar piece, are very cool. But pieces that didn't just witness, but were active participants in one of the most fundamentally important events in the history of our species, to me at least, are the bees knees.
And they should be even more exciting to numismatists! They are the alpha of our hobby and our passion.
There is still so much mystery and speculation in these pieces. That just fuels the fascination for me. And as always, your stag piece is awesome.
It's hard to gauge how tiny this particular piece is. That's roughly 1/60th of an ounce--about 1/5th the weight of an American silver dime. Can you post a more recognizable coin next to it for reference? >>
Early electrum is indeed less expensive than I would tend to think - this coin was about 150x less expensive than my Eid Mar (although that is an exceptional case). I suspect it's simply due to supply and demand - small coins aren't in as much demand as larger ones: the trite and stater versions of this type are considerably more expensive.
I have another coin which I'll be posting soon from a bit earlier in the history of coinage which is also relatively inexpensive despite it being a great example for the type (still looking for a good striated electrum, though). The Oinoanda didrachm I posted last week was also quite inexpensive, relatively speaking, considering its rarity.
Overall, ancient coins are considerably less expensive than US coins in my eyes. The 10C you posted is a great example of this - even the top end of the ancients market is only mid-way up the US market, and many historic and beautiful ancient coins can be owned for much less.
Also, I haven't yet taken a side-by-side picture of this myshemihekte but it is a bit smaller than this other one which I posted a couple weeks ago in this thread: An Anonymous Hero (Phokaian electrum)
--Severian the Lame