Nomos 38

IONIA. Uncertain mint. Circa 650-600 BC. Trite (Electrum, 12 mm, 4.65 g), Lydo-Milesian standard. Globular surface with an uncertain pattern of dots. Rev. Oblong incuse divided into two squares. BMFA 1749. Elektron 10 var. (hekte). Pozzi 2350. Rosen 253. SNG von Aulock 7761. Traité 2, 1, 3. One of the earliest coins of the Western World. Minor marks, otherwise, basically about as made.

For a long time the amorphous patterns found on the obverses of the earliest coinages of Asia Minor - the earliest coins struck in the Western World - were thought to be only random arrangements of lines and dots; and were explained as being a primitive way of combating fraud. Lately, however, some innovative scholars are pursuing the theory that they are actually star maps, and refer to a long lost cult prevalent among ancient astronomers based in the Hittite Kingdom.