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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;AncientJoe, post: 1977768, member: 44357&quot;]The phrasing within my post is highly specific to denote the lack of certainty about the chronology of coinage. I never say this is the earliest known coin - it is the first <i>official </i>coin, meeting the dictionary definition including the iconography aligned with a governing body.</p><p><br /></p><p>I consider it illogical to assume coins would jump from globular blobs of metal straight to Lydian lions. There are numerous intervening types which some consider proto-coinage, but the chronology in my interpretation is:</p><p><br /></p><p>- Blank globular metal (Proto-coinage)</p><p>- Striated electrum (the first real coin as it has an obverse &quot;type&quot;, regardless of how simple it is)</p><p>- Geometric electrum (the first circulating coinage)</p><p>- Ephesus &quot;deer&quot; coinage (while not a government issued type, it is the first to include a signature and found in the Artemission hoard)</p><p>- Lydian trites (the first official coin, &quot;it is the first coin to have certified markings which signify a specific exchange value and be issued by a governmental authority for use as money&quot;)</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;d be curious as to what your different take is on it in any event![/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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