Silver Siglos, Croesus, Lydia, 560-547 BCE Silver Siglos (half stater), King Croesus of Lydia, Sardes mint, 560-547 BC. One of the earliest coins issued and the first truly standardized silver coin. Obverse: confronted oreparts of lion and bull. Reverse: double incuse punch. 15 mm, 5.16 g. The first true coinage was developed in Lydia (modern western Turkey) in the seventh century BC. The first coins were made from crude lumps of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, found in the river Pactolus. Croesus, known for his great wealth, is said to have discovered the means to separate gold and silver from electrum thereby creating the first "bimetallic" system of coinage. This gave the ancient world a flexible and efficient medium of exchange, greatly facilitating trade and commerce.