00 of the first coins ever minted featured in new exhibition at the Israel Museum

http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=55230

500 of the first coins ever minted featured in new exhibition at the Israel Museum Electrum Stater. Lesbos . Ca. 500 – 450 BCE . Lion's head right / incuse punch. Courtesy of the Israel Museum. JERUSALEM.- The Israel Museum presents a new exhibition featuring 500 of the first coins ever minted, providing an intimate look at the dawn of coinage. Struck in western Asia Minor (present-day Eastern Turkey) during the mid-seventh century BCE, and made of an alloy of gold and silver known as electrum or “white gold,” these intricately decorated coins shed light on one of the most important innovations in human history. Many of the coins featured in the exhibition are held in private collections and have never before been on public view. White Gold: Revealing the World’s Earliest Coins is on view at the Israel Museum from May 8, 2012, through March 30, 2013.