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Lydian Croeseid Third-Stater — Lion & Bull

Specimen · lydia-croeseid-third-stater-lion-bull-001

The Coin

Obverse
Obverse — confronted foreparts of lion and bull
Reverse
Reverse — two incuse square punches of unequal size

Attribution: Asia Minor (Lydia). Sardes. Kroisos (Croesus) of Lydia — or the early Achaemenid administration at Sardes (see notes). c. 561–546 BC (Kroisos; tag: c. 564–539 BC), possibly continued to c. 520 BC under Persian rule — chronology debated. AR. trite (third-stater).

Obverse: Confronted foreparts of a lion (on the left, head right) and a bull (on the right, head left), facing one another. Anepigraphic.

Reverse: Two incuse (sunken) square punches of unequal size, side by side.

Weight: 3.39 g (tag) (Weight from the dealer tag; not re-weighed.)  Reference: SNG Ashmolean 772

Related Coin Images

Related
This coin as CNG Mail Bid Sale 58, lot 609, 19 September 2001 — the 2001 catalog photo (via acsearch.info), consistent with this coin and matching the printed lot ticket that came with it.
Image source & licence

Image: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC (cngcoins.com).

Related2
NOT this coin — a same-weight lookalike, CNG Electronic Auction 430, lot 147 (closed 10 October 2018), investigated as a possible re-sale and excluded by photo: it has a deep notch in the reverse edge at six o’clock that this coin (and the 2001 photo) lacks. Kept for comparison. CNG’s full cataloguing: ‘KINGS of LYDIA. Kroisos. Circa 564/53-550/39 BC. AR Third Stater (13mm, 3.39 g). Sardes mint. Confronted foreparts of lion and bull / Two incuse squares of unequal size. Berk 24; SNG Ashmolean 772 (Persian period). Fine, porous, a few scratches.’ Image: Classical Numismatic Group, LLC (cngcoins.com).

Type-level historical context, attribution detail, and references → Lydian Croeseid Third-Stater — Lion & Bull

John's Ancient Coin Collection · Specimen · lydia-croeseid-third-stater-lion-bull-001

Image credits for this coin — photographs, maps and graphics used on this page