The first circulating coins

Little is known about this electrum (natural alloy of gold and silver) coin.

Ionia, Circa 650-600 BC. Hekte (one-sixth stater)

It was minted in Ionia, somewhere in central Western Anatolia on the shores of the Aegean, but the precise city-state that produced it is unknown. It could have been minted in Miletus, a city often referred to as the origin of the modern world. This type likely represents the first coins which circulated in everyday use. They are small, 1/24th staters which represented about a day’s pay. Larger denominations are rare. Even fewer trites (one-third stater) are known, and only three staters are known.

IONIA. Ephesus. Phanes (ca. 625-600 BC). EL stater. NGC VF 4/5 - 4/5.

Heritage offered the impossibly rare Phanes stater in 2019. Phanes coinage falls into seven denominations, from the stater down to a 1/96 stater, all featuring the stag in various poses. There are only two other known staters. It made $300k.

During the excavation of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus (present day Turkey near the Black Sea), a group of coins was found which are thought to be its 'foundation deposit', a custom that supposedly prevented the building from falling into ruin. The largest type in the group, a stater, has a retrograde inscription ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ΕΜΙ ΣΗΜΑ (Phaneos emi sema) This can be translated as 'I am the badge of Phanes'. As Phanes was a god of light it could mean "I am the sign of the bright one"

These are recognized as the first inscribed coins, which revolutionized trade and commerce.