Wolfgang Fischer-Bossert, Austrian Academy of Sciences
Early Lydian Coinage and Chronology

As Lydia is the region where coinage began, the earliest Lydian coinages have long been of particular interest. Since 1890, it has been suspected that
the inscriptions on some early Lydian coins are to be associated with Lydian kings. For about 20 years now, almost all of these inscriptions have become
completely legible, and indeed the old assumption seems to have been confirmed. However, the sequence of coinage does not match the sequence of Lydian kings known from Herodotus. A revision of the Lydian king list – and thus also of the history of events in Asia Minor in the 7th and early 6th centuries – is therefore necessary.