Gold croesid coin

Lydian, around 550 BC
From modern Turkey

Is this a coin of the fabulously wealthy King Croesus?

Croesus, king of the Lydian people (reigned about 560-547 BC), was renowned for his great wealth. The expression 'as rich as Croesus' is used today to mean fabulously rich. His royal capital was at the city of Sardis in modern Turkey, astride the River Pactolus.

This river may in part have been responsible for his legendary wealth. Electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, occurs naturally in the sands of the river bed and was extracted from the river in antiquity. Because of his legendary wealth, the earliest coins to be issued in gold have often been attributed to Croesus. In fabric and design these were not unlike the earliest electrum coins. The forepart of a lion was shown facing the forepart of a bull on the obverse (front), while the reverse consisted of a simple punch. The coins were issued in several denominations.

Ancient writers mention a gold coin called a croesid, and it may well be this coin to which they refer. However, study of the hoard evidence for these coins now suggests that if they were indeed issued by Croesus, then it was only late in his reign that their production began, and they continued to be produced long after his death.

G.K. Jenkins, Ancient Greek coins (London, Seaby, 1990)

C.M. Kraay, Archaic and Classical Greek co (London, Methuen, 1976)

I.A. Carradice, Greek coins (London, The British Museum Press, 1996)

I.A. Carradice and M.J. Price, Coinage in the Greek world (London, Seaby, 1988)