http://sofiaglobe.com/2014/09/09/diver-finds-2750-year-old-gold-coin-in-bulgaria/ Written by The Sofia Globe staff on September 9, 2014 in Bulgaria A diver has found what is believed to be the oldest gold coin ever discovered in Bulgaria, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on September 9. The coin was found in shallow waters near the resort town of Sozopol on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast. The diver saw the gleaming coin by accident, the report said, and later passed it on to Bozhidar Dimitrov – a native of Sozopol and former diver himself, who is now head of the National History Museum in Sofia. BTA quoted numismatist Vladimir Penchev from the National History Museum saying that the coin is not solid gold, but made of electrum – the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, used to mint some of the earliest metal coins in human history. This particular coin appears to have been minted in the kingdom of Lydia in western Anatolya, sometime in the second half of the seventh century BCE, which put the coin’s age at more than 2750 years, he said. Sozopol was founded as a colony of the Greek city state of Miletus in western Anatolia about 611 BCE – first named Antheia, but later changing its name to Apollonia. Since Miletus was a neighbour of the kingdom of Lydia, it is no surprise that a Lydian coin has been found in the town’s environs, but it is the first of its kind found in Bulgaria, according to Penchev. The coin weighs 0.63 grams and has a denomination of 1/24 of a stater.
I would love to someday find an artifact/coin like this. Exceptional find! My son says I should go on a metal detecting holiday to England. Perhaps one day.
"This particular coin appears to have been minted in the kingdom of Lydia in western Anatolya, sometime in the second half of the seventh century BCE, which put the coin’s age at more than 2750 years, he said." Nice find! Although... they incorrectly calculated age, apparently thinking 7th century BC means numbers in the 700s. With a mid-seventh century minting estimate, the coin is ~2650 years old. Also, it looks more like the general type which according to auction descriptions dates to ~600-550 BC (mid to late 6th century BC). Those auction descriptions may not reflect the latest scholarship though.
It would be interesting to know how it traveled from Lydia to Bulgaria, not that that was a long distance in the ancient world. But sometimes you wish coins could really talk, with a mouth, in English.
I drooled when I saw this article today....man.....what do you think it is worth? If the oldest I would not sell.
I don't think they're claiming it to be the oldest coin ever found anywhere, just the oldest coin found in Bulgaria. I'd like to see the reverse. I can't quite make out a design from that obverse. Is it the head of a griffin? Sometimes those look very abstract. I think it is younger than the Lydian lion recently posted by AncientJoe, possibly younger than the Lydian lion I posted in the same thread. Perhaps he or someone with Linzalone's Electrum and the Invention of Coinage can weigh in. In the upper 3 digits or low 4 digits is more realistic.
I have seen this being posted in a couple of places. The design is easier to make out if you rotate it counterclockwise 90 degrees or so. I think it is a head of a deer or lion facing left. Here is a similar one that sold for $800 with head right: http://www.acsearch.info/search.html?id=460823 I don't understand why all of the articles I have seen don't post both sides of the coins. Here is the reverse: I would agree with TIF regarding the date and yes the common mistake people seem to mistake when reading the article is that they are not claiming it is the oldest coin ever. Only the oldest coin to be found in Bulgaria. Edit: It reminds me of a cruder type of AJ's 'Stag of Artemis' coin
I was thinking oldest Gold coin known...if not bets are off. The oldest coin known would fetch much more than a million, bragging rights alone..
Just remember any finds in England technically belong to the Queen and you only receive a fraction of the worth as a finder's fee.
The oldest types are either the striated electrum coinage or Lydian trites, both of which sell for $1K-10K depending on condition. As for the first coin ever struck, that would not be possible to determine as records were not nearly that precise. A 1/24th stater is a very small coin - here's one of mine for comparison:
