The Numismatic Bibliomania Society

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V17 2014 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

The E-Sylum: Volume 17, Number 39, September 21, 2014, Article 28

BULGARIAN FIND OF ANCIENT ELECTRUM COIN FROM LYDIA

Alan Luedeking forwarded this article about the discovery of an example of the world's oldest electrum coin. Thanks. -Editor

Lydium-electrum-coin A diver has found what is believed to be the oldest gold coin ever discovered in Bulgaria, Bulgarian news agency BTA reported on September 9. The coin was found in shallow waters near the resort town of Sozopol on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.

The diver saw the gleaming coin by accident, the report said, and later passed it on to Bozhidar Dimitrov – a native of Sozopol and former diver himself, who is now head of the National History Museum in Sofia.

BTA quoted numismatist Vladimir Penchev from the National History Museum saying that the coin is not solid gold, but made of electrum – the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver, used to mint some of the earliest metal coins in human history.

This particular coin appears to have been minted in the kingdom of Lydia in western Anatolya, sometime in the second half of the seventh century BCE, which put the coin’s age at more than 2750 years, he said.

The coin weighs 0.63 grams and has a denomination of 1/24 of a stater.

To read the complete article, see:
Diver finds 2750-year-old gold coin in Bulgaria (sofiaglobe.com/2014/09/09/diver-finds-2750-year-old-gold-coin-in-bulgaria/)

THE BOOK BAZARRE

WHITMAN ENCYCLOPEDIA of MEXICAN MONEY. Volume 1 available this month! An illustrated overview and history of Mexican coins and currency, by award-winning scholars Don and Lois Bailey. Hardcover, 496 pages, full color, $39.95. Order your copy at Whitman.com or call 1-800-546-2995.


Wayne Homren, Editor

Google
 
NBS (coinbooks.org) Web

The Numismatic Bibliomania Society is a non-profit organization promoting numismatic literature. See our web site at coinbooks.org.

To submit items for publication in The E-Sylum, write to the Editor at this address: whomren@gmail.com

To subscribe go to: https://my.binhost.com/lists/listinfo/esylum

PREV ARTICLE       NEXT ARTICLE       FULL ISSUE       PREV FULL ISSUE      

V17 2014 INDEX       E-SYLUM ARCHIVE

Copyright © 1998 - 2024 The Numismatic Bibliomania Society (NBS)
All Rights Reserved.

NBS Home Page
Contact the NBS webmaster
coin