Gold Hekte

This hekte (19A02) was minted in Sardis, Lydia in the 6th century BCE. The obverse depicts the confronted foreparts of a lion and a bull. The reverse depicts two incuse squares. This slightly misshapen ovoid coin is a hekte (an equivalent to the Greek sixth stater) and was minted in Sardis during the 6th century BCE, in the Kingdom of Lydia. The obverse of this hekte depicts the forefront of a lion on the left, facing right towards the bull. The reverse of the coin has two incuse squares, the result of the hammering of the punch-die into the coin in order to create the image that appears on the hekte's obverse.

This coin is an example of one of the earliest units of currency in the ancient Mediterranean. Here, the lion is a reoccuring symbol associated with the Lydian royal family, with the association between lions and kingship born from the Hittite culture. Similar hekte feature "valves" (pronounced walwesh) inscribed on the obverse. "walwi" translates to lion within Luwian language, which paired with "muwa", links it to royalty in the Bronze Age Seha Riverland.