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Ionia Electrum Twenty-Fourth Stater, obverse

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Greek

Ionia Electrum Twenty-Fourth Stater

Uncertain Authority · Archaic Greek World

One of the collection’s earliest objects, this minute Ionian electrum fraction preserves the abstract geometry from which struck coinage emerged.

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Object number
AG-051
Date
c. 625–550 BC
Denomination
EL 1/24 Stater
Material
Gold / Electrum
Weight
0.65 g
Grade
AU · Strike 5/5 · Surface 5/5
Certification
NGC Ancients

Record completeness

Evidence, made visible

  • Object identityDocumented
  • Physical recordPartly documented
  • AttributionPartly documented
  • Legends & imageryNot recorded
  • ProvenanceNot recorded

The Story Behind the Strike

The cities of western Asia Minor were among the first communities to transform weighed electrum into officially marked money. This tiny fraction belongs to that experiment. Its raised and incuse geometric devices are not portraits or narrative scenes; they are controlled marks of authority. The object shows coinage at the threshold between precious metal and a civic medium whose value could be recognised at a glance.

Connected research

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