The 1/6 stater, pictured at left, is more than 2,700 years old, making it one of the very earliest coins. Made from electrum, an alloy of gold and silver, the coin originated in the area of Lydia, now part of western Turkey. It had a design on one side only, a result of the primitive method of manufacture. It is a key exhibit in the Department of Coins and Medals of the British Museum, which houses one of the world's finest numismatic collections, comprising about 1 million objects. The collection spans the entire history of coinage from its origins in the 7th century BC to the present day, and includes related material such as coin weights, tokens and money-boxes.

I visited this marvelous collection during a brief stay in London in August 2001. I wished I’d had a lot more time. One of the highlights is the Money Gallery, It displays a wide range objects used as money during the last 4,500 years, from barley grains and cowrie shells to the coins, banknotes and electronic money in use today.

The ancient stater – one of the first true coins – was hand struck. A die with a design (in this case a lion's head) for the obverse (front) of the coin was placed on an anvil. A blank piece of metal was placed on top of the die, and a punch hammered onto the reverse. The result was a coin with an image on one side and a punch mark on the other. The lion’s head has fed speculation the coin was issued by a Lydian king, although this cannot be confirmed.

Want to know more? Click here for a "comparative chronology" of money dating back to 9000 B.C.