King Croesus of Lydia gave the world its first reliable bimetallic coinage, and these silver staters carry that invention in the hand of whoever owns one. Struck at Sardis during his reign from 561 to 546 BC, the issue is a hand-struck silver stater weighing 10.40 grams, certified by NGC Ancients as Choice Very Fine with a Star designation for exceptional eye appeal, graded Strike 5/5 and Surface 4/5 and sealed in the standard NGC Ancients holder.

The obverse shows the confronted foreparts of a lion and a bull, the royal badge of Lydia and one of the most recognizable images in all of ancient numismatics. The lion's mane and the bull's shoulder are rendered in high relief on a thick, irregular planchet typical of early hammered coinage. The reverse carries no portrait or legend at all, only a bipartite incuse punch: two rectangular depressions driven into the metal by the anvil dies, which is exactly how the earliest coinages were produced before two-sided designs became standard.

Croesus staters are the coins that ended the era of weighed bullion and began the era of struck money, and that historical weight is why they anchor so many ancient collections. The Strike 5/5 notation reflects well-centered dies and strong relief on both animals, while the Star designation is reserved by NGC for coins with superior visual quality for the assigned grade. If you are building a collection around the origins of coinage, a certified Lydian stater of Croesus is the natural cornerstone, and the NGC Ancients holder settles questions of authenticity, weight, and attribution before they are asked.

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