Pre-monetary Hacksilver

Historical context — Pre-Achaemenid & Median

Before struck coinage, value moved as silver bullion (hacksilber), bent bars, and Elamite weight-pieces. Lydian electrum staters reached the Iranian plateau via Anatolian trade in the 7th century BCE.

Frequently asked

What is the Pre-monetary Hacksilver?

Pre-monetary silver weighed against grain standards; recovered from Nush-i Jan and Tepe Hasanlu hoards. It was struck in c. 800–600 BCE.

What metal and weight is it?

Silver, weighing approximately variable, cut to weight.

What designs appear on it?

Obverse: Cut and chiselled fragments. Reverse: —

Related pieces

Electrum

Lydian Electrum Trite ("Lion Stater")

King Alyattes

c. 610–560 BCE

Earliest coins to reach Persian markets; the prototype Achaemenid coinage would later replace.

Gold

Lydian Gold Stater of Croesus

King Croesus (Kroisos)

c. 561–546 BCE

Croesus, last king of Lydia, replaced the older electrum coinage with the world's first true bimetallic system in pure gold and pure silver — a model the Achaemenid daric/siglos would inherit a generation later.

Silver

Silver Siglos (Type IIIb)

Xerxes I – Artaxerxes II

c. 485–375 BCE

20 Sigloi = 1 Daric. Hundreds of thousands survive — the most common Achaemenid coin.

Silver

Satrapal Coin of Asia Minor

Achaemenid satrap (probably Tiribazos)

Early 4th century BCE

Among the earliest realistic portraits in Western coinage.

Silver

Mazaios Satrapal Double Shekel — Babylon

Mazaios, Satrap of Babylon

c. 331–328 BCE

Struck by Mazaios, the Achaemenid satrap who surrendered Babylon to Alexander in 331 BCE and was confirmed as governor. His coinage is a hinge moment: Achaemenid satrapal iconography continued unchanged into the early Macedonian administration.

Silver

Philisto-Arabian / Samarian Obol

Local Achaemenid governors

c. 450–333 BCE

Tiny silver fractions struck by Achaemenid-appointed governors of the Levantine coast — blending Persian, Greek and Phoenician iconography. Image: closely related satrapal type.