LYDIAN KINGDOM. Walwet (ca. 620-560 BC). EL sixth-stater or hecte (10mm, 2.35 gm). NGC VF 5/5 - 2/5, marks. Lydo-Milesian standard. Sardes (?) mint. Confronted heads of two lions (only the left visible); WALWET (in Lydian script) between / Two incuse square punches of unequal size, side-by-side, with partial geometric interior patterns. Weidauer Group XVII, 103. Rare example of one of the earliest series of inscribed coinage. Ex The Windmill Collection (Classical Numismatic Group, Electronic Auction 503, 3 November 2021), lot 27. Numismatik Naumann 55 (2 July 2017), lot 283. Known examples of electrum coins inscribed in the name of the Lydian king Alyattes (rendered WALWET in Lydian script) were in the single digits until recently, when several examples appeared on the market. They remain rare and are certainly among the first coins in history to carry an inscription along with a "type." The dies of third staters (trites) and sixth staters (like this specimen) were engraved with two confronting lion heads with the Lydian legend between them; however, the flans are invariably too small to show both heads. HID09801242017 © 2023 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved

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