Greek Money
The greek historian Herodotus, writing in the 5th century BC famously stated tha 'the Lydians were the first people we know to have struck and used coinage of silver and gold.' He is almost correct. The earliest coins were in fact made from electrum, an alloy of gold and silver but, on the evidence of their findspot, do seem to belong to this part of the world. These coins had a design on one side only. On the other, simple puches were used.
Some of the earliest Lydian electrum coins are inscribed with names in ancient Lydian script. Two individuals are known: Walwel and kalil. It is unclear whether these are names of kings or just rich men who produced the earliest coins. The earliest legend in Greek on an electrum coin reads 'I am the badge of Phanes was, but it seems that he was placing his badge on coins as a guarantee of their quality.