Known as a stater or Croeseid, the coin represents a key turning point in the history of financial systems: the invention of the gold standard. Croesus ruled over the kingdom of Lydia, the western ...

I have here some of the original gold coins that made Croesus so rich. They come in all different sizes, from about the shape of a modern one penny piece right down to something the size of a lentil.

5/5 Neil MacGregor's retelling of history through objects - gold coins of Croesus ...

but because the ratio of gold to silver in electrum varies, the value of the coins was unpredictable. Croesus decided to change the variable electrum coins into two separate denominations to ...