Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-08-08
CROESOS' GOLD DUG UP
BY U. S. EXPLORERS
orss&Ast Archaeological Dis
eevsry for Years; Treasure
Taken From Tombs.

New YoCk Tfrnee
Thirty eu,d coins belonging to tho
Ara eofies q sold coins ever minted
have been unsarthsd by American
ArcheoNogiGss who are working on the
buried ruins OF oardis, the ancient
iyaAan capital IN Asia Minor. Fn-
teen Of them may come 40 the Metro
pclitAu Museum Of Art.
They are Of tho coinage Of CrocSis.
the last King OF Lydia and tho hrst
great international banker. whose
name hAs been = symbol for wealth TOR
nearly $500 years.
Tho coins wore minted some dmc be-
tween 561 Il. c.. when Croesus as
cended the throne OF Lydia and 646,
when no was captured by Cyrus, the
Persaan king. Some of the thirty
'Vtaters," as they arc called are as
brirht az ncw-minted pieSes OF United
States gold money. They are lighter
in hue, a. they arc OF pure Eoid-
Before this find. which Is considered
one oS the greatest archaeological dis
coverIes in many years. there we're
only nye "etAters" known TO be In
existence. -Four OF these were 90 rub
bed ana worn that the lions head and
bulls head were nearly effaced. One
was In eood condition. These i've are
IN tho British Museum.
News OF this discovery was brought
20 The United States by DIR. T. Leslie
Shear, an aIchaeologist OF Columbia
University, one OF tho members OF the
expedition who were present at the
discovery,
Many other interesting relics OF the
I.ydian. Greek and Roman periods OF
the ancient capital were discovered.
= The thirty pieces OF sold. which was
probably an enormous fortune in the
DAYS OF the first gold currency, are
thought TO have been hidden by some
wealthy Lydian in SAC while Sardie
was besieged by Cyrus They were
found IN a tomb.
Some OF the coins were little rubbed.
Indicating tina. they had been IN CIR
culation a few years. The fresh
minted condition OF some OF them
makes II almost a certainty that they
were fashlonedd during or Immediate
~ after the reign OF Croesus.
The wealth OF the Lydian Kings ha .
been celebrated at length by Herodo-
tus. The source Of the gold Is sup
posed to have.been the River Pactolus,
which fiows through the kingdom.
King Midas washed "the golden touch
from himself into this river and Inn
pregna;ed tho sands with the noble
meta, before ne had shaken on the
curse OF automatic transmutatton.
Some historians have d!scredited the
theory that tho Pectolus region was
rich IN gold and have argued that the
undoubted wealth OF the kingdom was
due to its foreign trade. II Is bc-
lieved by the explorers OF the site OF
Sards that the riches ( the king
dom were due 10 mineral weslth and &c
{, geographical positions, which made
3, tho greatest trading centre OF the
time.
The Lyd.sn kings were forced to be-
come the great intcrnationa exchange
bankers OF the time, because their
kingdon lay across the old Royal Road
os trade from Persia, Babylon and nj
the Orient 10 the greek cities. and
probably 20 Egypt and other Mesl-
.erranean cities.
Croesus not only coined gold but nd-
tusted his system OF coinage 10 a
convenient exchange basis VITA III,
silver and copper coins Of the Greeks
in the ives. and the Babyionaans enS
other or1entAls on the east Hi
father and predecessor. Aly~.tes, ha'
made coins OF electrun, An alloy o
gold and silver, but the final step q
put the kingdom on s. gold basis wa
taken by Croesus.
During tho fourteen-day siege O
Sardis, ending .n .;s capture by III
Pers.ans under Cyrus, eome wealth,
LydAn merchant or banker pronahl,
concealed his wealth II tho little cla.
pot nine inches high ar which II VIA
found among che scattered fragment
OF q tomb.
Tho ~ssater~ contains aooutas snl,cl
gold A. our IS god piece. The r1a-k
on {. show exactly how Il was manu-
fa0ur~d The reverse side bears tw,
marks where tho lump OF gold wa.
fitted upon an anvil while the die WE,
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