natural to find in Lydia, the land of gold, the first attempts at coined money.
“So far as we have knowledge,” says Herodotus7, “the Lydians were the first nation to introduce the use of gold and silver coin.”
This statement is fully borne out by the evidence of Xenophanes8, and also by the coins themselves, although some writers, e.g. Th. Mommsen9, have held that it was in the great cities of Ionia, Phocaea and Miletus that money was first coined. “From the little we know of the character of this people (the Lydians) we gather that their commercial instinct must have been greatly developed by their geographical position and surroundings, both conducive to frequent intercourse with the peoples of Asia Minor, Orientals as well as Greeks.”
About the time when the mighty Assyrian empire was falling into decay, Lydia, under a new dynasty called the Mermnadae, was entering upon a new phase of national life.
“The policy of these new rulers of the country was to extend the power of