LYDIAN KINGDOM. Walwet (ca. 620-560 BC). EL third-stater or trite (13mm, 4.66 gm). NGC Choice Fine 4/5 - 3/5, countermarks. Lydo-Milesian standard. Sardes (?) mint. WALWET (in Lydian script) confronted heads of two lions (only the left visible) / Two incuse square punches of unequal size, side-by-side, with partial geometric interior patterns. LN1082. Weidauer Group XVII, 95. Nice example of the popular early inscribed coinage. 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 (like this specimen) and sixth staters 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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