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The Croeseid, anciently Kroiseioi stateres, was a type of coin, either in gold or silver, which was minted in Sardis by the king of Lydia Croesus (561–546 Before Christ) from around 550 BC. Croesus is credited with issuing the first true with a standardised purity for general circulation, and the world's first bimetallism.
Herodotus mentioned the innovation of coinage, and standard coinage, made by the Lydians:
The gold coins had an initial weight of 10.7 grams. The silver coins also were issued in 10.7 grams, together with many smaller denominations, from 1/3 to 1/48. This makes it the world's first Bimetallism monetary system though the idea of smaller silver denominations had originated in Cyme (Aeolis) under Hermodike II.
Soon after however, the gold coins were struck in a lighter standard of 8.1 grams. The modification of the weight may have been the result of a policy to exchange and remove all electrum coins in circulation with the heavier format, the 10.7 grams corresponding to the nominal weight of gold in a standard 14.1 grams electrum stater (about 70%). Once this was done the coins were lightened to 8.1 grams corresponding to the true weight of gold in the electrum coins, which had often been voluntarily debased. Reducing the weight of the gold stater to 8.1 grams also allowed to simplify the exchange mechanism between gold and silver, as now 1 gold stater of 8.1 grams corresponded precisely in value to 10 silver staters of 10.7 grams, or to 20 silver coins of 5.35 grams (weight of the future Achaemenid Siglos), since the current exchange rate on a weight basis was 1 to 13.3 at the time.
The great advantage of the Croeseids compared to their electrum predecessors is that they were very reliable: the pure gold and pure silver coins all had a clear intrinsic value, entirely guaranteed by their purity and clearly defined by their weight, which, as an added benefit, was standard. On the contrary, the actual composition of various electrum coins was very hard to determine, so that the true intrinsic value of each coin could not be easily estimated. The royal symbol, or stamp, created by Aylettes gave the coins a declared value and today we still use a token currency, where the value is guaranteed by the state and not by the value of the metal used in the coins.Amelia Dowler, Curator, British Museum; A History of the World; http://www.bbc.co.uk/ahistoryoftheworld/objects/7cEz771FSeOLptGIElaquA [1]
Alternatively, the lion - symbol of Lydia - and the bull - symbol of Hellenic [[Zeus]]Perseus 1:2.7 - http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0548.tlg001.perseus-eng1:2.7 - [Hercules] had Agelaus, from whom the family of Croesus was descended." (from the Seduction of Europa1912-1996., Grimal, Pierre, (1991). The Penguin dictionary of classical mythology. Kershaw, Stephen. ([Abridged ed.] ed.). London, England: Penguin Books. . OCLC 25246340.) - are facing each other in truce; Note that hunting lions attack from the rear, also imagery of a predator and prey lying down together in peace is reflected in other ancient literature, e.g. "...the calf and the lion and the yearling together..." c.700BC.Isaiah 11:6 The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. In the historical context of Lydia's alliance with Agamemnon of Cyme, an arrangement sealed by the marriage of Greek [[Hermodike II]], possibly Croesus’ mother, to his father, Alyettes (AKA a later Midas). However, any peace between Lydians and Greeks is not to be confused with Croesus’ attempted conquest of [[Miletus]]. Notwithstanding, the croeseid symbolism of peace between the Greeks of Asia Minor, Lydians and later Persians persisted long after Croesus’ death - until Darius the Great introduced new coins c.500BC.
These coins were found in very fresh condition in the Apadana hoard, coins deposited under the foundation stone of the Apadana in Persepolis, dated to circa 515 BC, confirming that they had been recently minted under Achaemenid rule. The deposit did not have any Daric and Sigloi, which also suggests strongly that these Achaemenid coins only started to be minted later, after the foundation of the Apadana Palace.
Sardis remained the central mint for the Persian Darics and Sigloi of Achaemenid coinage, and there is no evidence of other mints for the new Achaemenid coins during the whole time of the Achaemenid Empire. Although the gold Daric became an international currency which was found throughout the Ancient world, the circulation of the silver Sigloi remained very much limited to Asia Minor: important hoards of Sigloi are only found in these areas, and finds of Sigloi beyond are always very limited and marginal compared to Greek coins, even in Achaemenid territories.
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