A Catalogue of Archaic Electrum Coinage (CAEC)

The earliest coins of the western hemisphere were struck in seventh-century Asia Minor, i.e. in a contact zone that was shaped by both the Greek city-states of Ionia and an oriental monarchy, the Lydian empire. Although the history of research looks back to 150 years of vivid debate, the historical process leading to the invention of coinage is not yet understood, and the chronology of the numerous series is as controversial as is the identification of their issuers. The project had the aim to form a new basis for future research by providing a catalogue of the relevant coin issues, that is, the archaic electrum coinage of the seventh and sixth centuries BC.The catalogue that is thought to be published as a book is based on a database of early electrum coins from museums, excavations, private collections, and auction sale catalogues. As even the most recent research had to rely upon studies from the 1970s, such a project was overdue. When the project was finished, the database covered more than 9,000 entries. Collating the material, that is, reconciling entries relating to one and the same specimen, is not yet finished, but it can be said that the database is likely to contain no less than 7,500 specimens. As soon as the database is finally arranged according to the criteria of cataloguing, and the catalogue is published, the database will be made available via an online platform provided by the American Numismatic Society, New York.As an integral part of the project, metal analyses were not only added to the database but also commissioned. Furthermore, the relevant coin hoards were studied and reconstructed; it turned out that some late archaic silver hoards in fact contain various electrum coins which had been misinterpreted as a result of their low gold content.Arranging a catalogue by applying typological criteria means that two series which are similar to each other must be closely studied, and the internal structure of the more important series should be detected. Therefore in the course of the project some die-studies have been made, that is, all specimens of a series were listed die per die according to the sequence of striking. It turned out that major series such as the royal Lydian, the Milesian or that one of the signing Phanes are far from being primitive; their structure is highly sophisticated. At the same time it was possible to establish die-links between various series of diverging iconography. Thus the question is raised whether the relevant series were produced by one and the same mint, or rather by wandering craftsmen who kept using the same reverse punches when switching from one commission to another. Such problems will be dealt with in the project to follow (P30147 G25).