Lydia Electrum Trite, Lion's Head

Related — This coin as CNG e-Auction 614, lot 199, 29 July 2026 - the auction photograph at full size. A fat, high-domed lump of a flan, correct fabric for the series and nothing like a struck disc. The color is pale greenish-gold rather than rich yellow, which is what a 54 per cent gold alloy looks like and quietly corroborates the artificial-alloy story. The mane striations at the left are the crispest thing on the coin and countable; the eye is a clean raised roundel; the four-rayed boss sits on the forehead as catalogued. The muzzle and jaw are legible but soft, and the strike runs slightly off the left edge. The reverse is the better side: two deep, well-formed incuse punches with the irregular interior these should have, correct in number for a trite.
Image source & licence
Image: Classical Numismatic Group, from the auction listing. To be replaced by the owner’s own photographs when the coin arrives.

Attribution: Asia Minor (Lydia). Sardes. Kings of Lydia — the Lydian royal chronology of this period is not secure (see notes). Late 640s – early 6th century BC (the bracket is wide because the dating is genuinely disputed). EL. trite (third-stater).

Obverse: Head of a roaring lion right, with a four-rayed 'sun' or radiate boss on the forehead

Reverse: Two incuse square punches, side by side

Weight: 4.79 g (tag) (4.79 g from CNG's cataloguing; in hand (arrival confirmed by John 2026-09-05) but NOT YET RE-WEIGHED — John weighs it the weekend of 6-7 September 2026. This is FULL WEIGHT for a Lydo-Milesian trite (standard c. 4.7 g) and slightly over it — on early electrum that is the single most reassuring number on the ticket, since a light trite means wear, clipping or a problem.) · 13 mm Reference: Weidauer Group XVI, 65

John's Ancient Coin Collection · Specimen · lydia-electrum-trite-lion-sardes-001

The Coin