Item number: A2872

Year: 561-546 BC

Material: Silver

Size: 11.3 x 9.8 x 2.8 mm

Weight: 1.7 g

Provenance: Fuchin Coin 2020

This is one of the earliest types of coins ever issued in world history—a one-sixth stater silver coin minted by Croesus, the last king of the Lydian Kingdom in Asia Minor.

The coin has an oval shape. The obverse features the most emblematic motif of Lydia—a lion and bull in confrontation. On the left side, a lion is depicted charging to the right with its foreleg extended and jaws wide open. The bull on the right is more faintly struck, resulting in a less distinct outline. The reverse displays a geometric incuse punch mark, a design commonly found on coins from various ancient Greek city-states.

The Kingdom of Lydia possessed abundant deposits of gold, silver, and other precious metals, making it the wealthiest nation in the ancient Greek world and a pioneer in the invention of coinage in human history. Croesus, the last king of Lydia, is regarded as the richest ruler of the ancient world. Even today, the English expression “as rich as Croesus” remains a common idiom used to describe immense wealth. During his reign, Croesus established a coinage system based on the stater, struck in pure 24-karat gold as the standard.

In both Greek mythology and historical tradition, there is a well-known philosophical encounter between Croesus and the renowned Athenian statesman Solon. During Solon’s visit to Lydia, Croesus proudly displayed his immense wealth and asked who, in Solon’s view, was the happiest man in the world. To Croesus’s surprise, Solon’s answers did not include his name. Eventually, Croesus pressed Solon for an explanation, to which Solon replied that true happiness cannot be judged by material wealth alone; rather, one must wait until the end of a person’s life to determine whether it was truly fortunate—“Call no man happy until he is dead.”

Croesus’s own fate later fulfilled this cautionary wisdom: he was defeated by Cyrus the Great of the Persian Empire and faced execution by fire. Nevertheless, Croesus’s introduction of a standardised coinage system left a profound and lasting impact on the monetary traditions of the Western world.

物件編號: A2872

年代: 公元前 561-546 年

材質: 銀

尺寸: 11.3 x 9.8 x 2.8 mm

重量: 1.7 g

來源: 福君錢幣 2020

這是一枚世界歷史上最早發行的錢幣種類之一，小亞細亞的呂底亞王國末代君王克羅伊斯發行鑄造的面額1/6斯塔特銀幣。

錢幣外觀為橢圓形，錢幣正面打印呂底亞最具標誌性的獅子和公牛圖騰。錢幣的左側是一隻伸出前腳，張著血盆大口朝向右側飛奔的獅子。右側的公牛圖騰打印的力道較為不足，使得圖像輪廓較為模糊。錢幣背面是經常出現在各個古希臘城邦錢幣上的圖案，即搥打而成的方形幾何凹槽。

呂底亞王國境內有豐富的金銀等貴金屬礦產，為古希臘世界最為富裕的國家，亦是人類歷史上發明錢幣的先驅。呂底亞王國的末代國王克羅伊斯被視為上古世界最有錢的統治者，現今在英語世界還保有「像克羅伊斯一樣富有」形容一個人極為富有的俗諺。克羅伊斯任內以24克拉純金為標準，發行名為「斯塔特」的錢幣制度。

另外在希臘神話和歷史上，克羅伊斯和雅典著名的政治家梭倫有段充滿哲理的交鋒。有一次克羅伊斯向來到呂底亞參訪的梭倫展示自己的財富，並且詢問後者誰是世界上最幸福的人，然而梭倫的答案卻始終沒有克羅伊斯的名字。最後克羅伊斯忍不住問梭倫為何沒提及自己的名字，這時梭倫方才回答評斷一個人幸福與否不能以擁有的財富作為判斷，而是要到一個人過世之際方才能蓋棺定論。克羅伊斯的最終結局是敗於波斯帝國居魯士二世的征服，並且遭到火刑的命運。不過克羅伊斯對於錢幣訂定的制度卻深切影響西方世界的貨幣發展。