Phanes

The Phanes coins, so called for the name inscribed on them, are early electrum coins from Caria in Asia Minor and are the most ancient inscribed coin series at present known. Coins The Phanes coins are a series of electrum coins issued in seven denominations: stater, 1/3, 1/6, 1/12, 1/24, 1/48, and 1/96 stater. The staters weigh 14.1 grams. All of the coins have the image of a stag or part of a stag on them. The coins were likely struck at Ephesus. The stater and 1/3 stater coins from this series both bear Greek inscriptions. The inscriptions are written right-to-left, and the letters are the mirror image of standard Greek letters. The longer inscription, on the stater, survives in three versions, which read: ("Phaenos emi sema"), ("Phanos emi sema"), and ("Phaneos eimi"). This may be translated as "I am the badge/mark/symbol of Phanes" or "I am the sign of the bright one". The shorter legend, on the 1/3 stater coins, is ("Phaneos", meaning "of Phanes"). The coins of Phanes are amongst the earliest of Greek coins. One, a hemihekte (a twelfth stater) of the issue, was found in a jar in the foundations of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus dated to the late seventh century BC, making that the earliest known hoard of coins. Only six specimens of the stater are known.