Spotted stag Ephesus, Seventh century BCE

Spotted stag Ephesus. Last third of the seventh century BCE. Stater (14.13g). Lydo-Milesian standard. Retrograde inscription ΦΑΝΕΟΣ ΕΜΙ Σ̣Η̣Μ̣[A] (I am the sign of Phanes), stag with spotted coat walking right on thick ground line, head lowered. This stater is the most famous of all early electrum coins. The inscription seems to imply that it acquired its type from the signet of a prominent man, raising the possibility that this could be true for other electrum types as well. Only six specimens of this coin type are known. An even shorter inscription, "of Phanes," appears on associated third staters (tritae), while uninscribed sixth staters (hectae), twelfth staters (hemihecta), and even smaller denominations are related to the larger denominations by the type of the spotted stag. A twelfth stater was found in excavations of the Artemisium at Ephesus, establishing a date for the series in the latter seventh century BCE.