Oldest known coin

The earliest coins recorded were made during the reign of King Gyges (or Kukaś) of Lydia – an ancient nation located in what is now western Türkiye – in c. 620 BC. The coin is made from electrum, a naturally occurring amalgam of gold and silver.

While not immediately resembling a coin due to its distinctive shape, Chinese spade money first appeared ca. 1200 BCE, largely found in predynastic Zhou tombs. By the 6th century BCE, spade money was the primary circulating medium of the Zhou Dynasty. Inscribed specimens are known from a century prior to that.