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Home ▸ Catalog ▸ |Greek Coins| ▸ |Geographic - All Periods| ▸ |Anatolia| ▸ |Lydia||View Options:   | | | Lydia lies in east-central Anatolia (Asia Minor) between Ionia and Phrygia. The kingdom of Lydia gradually rose in power in the 7th Century B.C. and by the time of Alyattes and Croesus, it was controlling most of Anatolia after rebuking Medes (the pre-Achaemenid empire). The most important city was Sardis, today Sart, housing impressive ruins. The Lydians were viewed as a merchant people and the kings as extremely wealthy. Croesus gained mythical status and today we still use the expression, "rich as Croesus." |
Sardis was the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia, an important city of the Persian Empire, a Roman proconsul seat, and in later Roman and Byzantine times the metropolis of the province Lydia. In the Book of Revelation, Sardis, one of the Seven Churches of Asia, is admonished to be watchful and to strengthen since their works haven't been perfect before God. (Revelation 3:1-6).RP113207. Bronze AE 19, RPC Online I 2997a; SNG Cop 521; BMC Lydia p. 253, 119; Waddington 5241; Weber 6909, nice F, nice green patina, highlighting earthen deposits, edge splits, weight 6.014 g, maximum diameter 18.7 mm, die axis 180o, Sardes (Sart, Turkey) mint, c. 60 A.D.; obverse NEPΩN KAIΣAP (counterclockwise from lower right, N retrograde), laureate head right; reverse EΠI MINΔIOY (counterclockwise from upper left, under Mindios), CAPΔIANΩN (upward on right), Dionysus standing slightly left, head left, cantharus in right hand, thyrsus in left hand, no panther,
B (strategos for the 2nd time abbreviated and ligated, downward in left field); from the Michael Arslan Collection; ex Bucephalus Numismatics auction 19 (6 May 2023), lot 399; 
Macedonian Kingdom, Philip III Arrhidaeus and Alexander IV, 323 - 317 B.C.
This coin was struck shortly after the death of Alexander the Great in the name of his infant son, Alexander IV. Alexander IV and Philip III, Alexander's brother, were made joint kings after Alexander's death. Sardes struck coins in the names of both kings. Alexander IV was an infant and Philip was mentally disabled, neither king was capable of actual rule and both were selected only to serve as pawns. The regents held power. Philip III was actually imprisoned. In 317, Olympias had Philip murdered to ensure sole rule by her grandson Alexander IV. But Alexander IV would never rule. In 311 B.C., he and his mother Roxana were executed by the regent Kassander.GS112776. Silver drachm, Price 2601; ADM I Sardes XIII, 191; Müller Alexander -, F, toned, marks, scratches, die wear, tiny edge chips, weight 3.937 g, maximum diameter 16.3 mm, die axis 0o, Lydia, Sardes (Sart, Turkey) mint, struck under Menander, c. 323 - 322 B.C.; obverse head of Herakles right, wearing Nemean Lion skin, scalp over head, forepaws tied at neck; reverse Zeus Aëtophoros seated left on throne without back, nude to the waist, himation around hips and legs, right foot forward (Alexander the Great lifetime style), eagle in extended right hand, long scepter vertical behind in left hand, AΛΕΞANΔPOY downward on right, monogram left, torch in exergue;
Persian Empire, Lydia, Anatolia, Artaxerxes I - Darius II, c. 455 - 420 B.C.
| This type was minted in Lydia, Anatolia, while under Persian control, prior to Alexander the Great's conquest. The Persian or Achaemenid Empire (c. 550 - 330 B.C.) was the largest empire in ancient history extending across Asia, Africa and Europe, including Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, parts of Central Asia, Asia Minor, Thrace and Macedonia, much of the Black Sea coastal regions, Iraq, northern Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Palestine and Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and much of ancient Egypt as far west as Libya. |  |
Sardes, Lydia, 2nd - 1st Century B.C.
Sardis was the capital of the Kingdom of Lydia, an important city of the Persian Empire, a Roman proconsul seat, and in later Roman and Byzantine times the metropolis of the province Lydia. In the Book of Revelation, Sardis, one of the Seven Churches of Asia, is admonished to be watchful and to strengthen since their works haven't been perfect before God. (Revelation 3:1-6).GB111922. Bronze AE 16, GRPC Lydia 4 pl. 273, 9; BMC Lydia, p. 238, 19; SNG Cop -; SNGvA -, VF, broad flan, porosity, scratch, both sides beveled, weight 3.779 g, maximum diameter 15.6 mm, die axis 90o, Sardes (Sart, Turkey) mint, 2nd - 1st century B.C.; obverse laureate head of Apollo right, long hair; reverse club, ΣAPΔI/ANΩN divided in two flanking lines, all within oak wreath, wreath closed with ΔM monogram above, all in a shallow round incuse; from the Michael Arslan Collection;
Daldis, Lydia, 69 - 79 A.D.
The Zeus who was worshiped at Laodicea was a Hellenized form of the old native god, Mên. Mên had been the king and father of his people. When Greeks settled in the area they continued to worship the god whose power was supreme in the district, but they identified him with their own god Zeus. Thus at Sardis and elsewhere in the region the native god became Zeus Lydios.GB96503. Bronze hemiassarion, GRPC Lydia 4; RPC Online II 1325 (12 spec.); BMC Lydia p. 70, 2; SNG Cop 110, F, green patina, tight flan cutting off much of legends, legends weak, earthen deposits, weight 3.818 g, maximum diameter 16.5 mm, die axis 0o, Daldis (near Narlïkale, Turkey) mint, time of Vespasian, 69 - 79 A.D.; obverse ΘEON CYNKΛHTON, draped bust of the Senate right; reverse EΠI TI ΦΛA YΛA ΦΛA KAICAP ΔAΛΔI (struck under Titus Flavius Hylas [at] Flaviocaesaria Daldis), Zeus Lydios standing left, wearing long chiton and himation, eagle in right hand, scepter in left hand; rare;
Bagis, Lydia, c. 193 - 268 A.D.
Inscriptions uncovered by Keppel place ancient Bagis near Sirghe on the left (south) side of the Hermos River. Modern scholars pinpoint a site at Güre, Usak Province, Turkey. The "Treasures of Croesus" findings from Lydian tumuli around the town were plundered in the 1960s but recovered by the 2000s and now in the Usak Museum.RP99127. Bronze AE 26, GRPC Lydia II pl. 29, 36; SNG Cop 45; SNG Mün 45; SNG Tüb 3667; BMC Lydia p. 33, 16; Winterthur 3702; Weber 6786; SNGvA -, VF, attractive style, well centered on a tight flan, green patina, weight 9.455 g, maximum diameter 25.7 mm, die axis 180o, Bagis (Güre, Turkey) mint, c. 193 - 268 A.D.; obverse CVNK-ΛHTOC, youthful draped bust of the Roman Senate right; reverse KAICAPEΩN BAΓHNΩN, Tyche standing sightly left, head left, kalathos on head, holding grounded rudder by tiller in right hand, cornucopia in left hand;
Hierocaesarea, Lydia, c. 100 - 150 A.D.
The name Hierocaesarea, is from the Greek for 'sacred' and the Latin for 'Caesar's. This town is mentioned by Ptolemy (VI, ii, 16). Judging from its coins, it worshiped the goddess Artemis Persica. The site of Hierocæsarea must have been between the modern Turkish villages of Beyova and Sasova, seven or eight miles south-east of Thyatira, on the left bank of the Koum-Chai, a tributary of the Hermus.RP112030. Bronze AE 19, GRPC Lydia II p. 184, 34, RPC Online III 1867; SNG Cop 173; SNGvA 2956; SNG Mun 136; Weber 6826; BMC Lydia p. 104, 15; Imhoof Bloomer LS Taf. I, 19, aVF, dark green patina, porosity, edge splits, weight 5.167 g, maximum diameter 19.3 mm, die axis 0o, Hierocaesarea (near Sazoba, Turkey) mint, c. 100 - 150 A.D.; obverse Artemis standing left, wearing short chiton, bow in left hand, her right hand on stag, stag is on her right (far) side left looking back and up at her, all in laurel wreath with berries; reverse IEPO KAICAPEΩN, stag standing right;
Sala, Lydia, c. 98 - 117 A.D.
The town of Sala is identifiable with Tepecik in today's west Asiatic Turkey, but in antiquity was in the Roman province of Lydia in Asia Minor.RP113001. Bronze AE 19, RPC Online III 2438; BMC Lydia p. 228, 11; SNG Cop 422; SNG Leypold II 1178; Waddington 6435; Weber 6895; Lindgren I 797, VF, well centered, green patina, obv. flatly struck, light deposits, weight 5.132 g, maximum diameter 19.4 mm, die axis 30o, Lydia, Sala (Tepecik, Turkey) mint, c. 98 - 117 A.D.; obverse bust of Athena right, wearing crested Corinthian helmet and aegis; reverse CAΛHNΩN, Cybele seated left, kalathos on head, phiale in right hand, resting left arm on tympanum (drum), lion at feet on far side;
Septimius Severus, 9 April 193 - 4 February 211 A.D., Bagis, Lydia
Inscriptions uncovered by Keppel place ancient Bagis near Sirghe on the left (south) side of the Hermos River. Modern scholars pinpoint a site at Güre, Usak Province, Turkey. The "Treasures of Croesus" findings from Lydian tumuli around the town were plundered in the 1960s but recovered by the 2000s and now in the Usak Museum.RP110155. Bronze AE 25, GRPC Lydia II 65 var. (legends); BMC Lydia p. 36, 26 (same); SNG Cop 48 var. (same); SNGvA -, SNG München -, VF, centered, cleaning a bit rough with marks and bare metal high points, weight 7.994 g, maximum diameter 25.2 mm, die axis 180o, Bagis (Güre, Turkey) mint, Archon Antigonus; obverse AY KA Λ CE CEOVHPO, Laureate, draped and cuirassed bust right; reverse EΠI ANTIΓ B AP - A TO B BAΓHNΩ (HN ligate), Zeus Lydios standing slightly left, head left, eagle in right hand, scepter in left hand; unpublished legend variety;
Septimius Severus, 9 April 193 - 4 February 211 A.D., Akrasos, Lydia
Akrasos was probably located on the upper course of the Caicus River. The site remains unknown. Even which river was once called the Caicus is uncertain. It is believed to be the modern Bakircay River in Turkey. Nothing is known of the city beyond its coinage.RP110214. Bronze AE 19, GRPC Lydia 60 (same dies), SNG Mün 22, Winterthur 3678, SNG Tire 320, Lindgren I 709 corr. (obv. leg.), BMC Lydia -, SNG Cop -, SNGvA -, Choice VF, well centered, dark patina with attractive highlighting earthen deposits, weight 3.240 g, maximum diameter 19.3 mm, die axis 180o, Acrasus mint, 9 Apr 193 - 4 Feb 211 A.D.; obverse AV K Λ CEP CEOVHPO-C, laureate head right; reverse AKPACIΩTΩN, Asklepios standing facing, head left, wearing himation, right hand on serpent-entwined staff;
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