Lydian Electrum Lion's Head Trite

Lydian electrum trite, struck about 600 to 530 BC. This roaring lion's head is one of the first coin designs ever made. The kingdom of Lydia, in what is now western Turkey, struck its earliest coins in electrum, a pale alloy of gold and silver, and Herodotus credited the Lydians with being the first to mint gold and silver coinage. Study the open jaws and the mane rendered as rows of curls; the other side carries nothing but rough punch marks. A trite was a third of a stater, and this British Museum example weighs about 4.7 grams.