Early coins from the ancient world survive in several forms, and comparing their dates is difficult because coinage developed in more than one region.
The examples below come from early coinage traditions in Britain, Persia, Greece, India, China, Ionia, and Lydia.
7 Oldest Coins in the World:
1. Hallaton Silver Coin
About 130 silver coins were found by Hallaton Fieldwork Group volunteer Ken Wallace in 2000. Following this finding, a team of local archaeologists dug up the largest hoard of British Iron Age coins ever found, named the Hallaton Treasure.
The team discovered over five thousand silver and gold coins, jewelry, and a silver-gilt Roman parade helmet.
A silver Roman coin from around 211 BCE was discovered in the hoard, making it one of the earliest Roman coins found in Britain.
The Roman goddess Roma appears on one side of the coin, and the legendary twins Castor and Pollux ride a horse on the other.
Some archaeologists have interpreted the coin as evidence of contact between Britain and Rome before the Roman invasion of 43 CE.
2. Persian Daric
After Cyrus the Great conquered Lydia in 547 BCE, the Persian Empire gained access to the royal mint at Sardis.
Darius I later introduced new Persian coin types during his reign, which lasted from 522 to 486 BCE.
The gold coin, known as the daric, was struck to a weight standard of about 8.4 grams.
Daric was the name given to the coins that came to serve as the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s standard currency.
Darics were high-purity gold coins. After Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 330 BCE, many were melted down and recast as later coinage.
That history helps explain why surviving darics are important pieces of Achaemenid coinage.
3. Aegina Sea Turtle
Ancient Aegina was an important trading post for people from Ionia and Lydia.
The sea-turtle design became the signature of Aegina’s early silver coinage.
Coinage was first introduced to Greece by the city-state of Aegina around the middle of the sixth century BCE.
With their uniform appearance, the Aegina coins were the first to be used as currency in international trade. The sea turtle was often engraved in high relief on one side of their coins, while the other featured a punched square pattern.
Aegina coins eventually became accepted throughout what was then the known world.
4. Karshapana
Historians may not agree on when the first Indian coins were produced, but most agree that they were introduced sometime in the sixth century BCE. The Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain produced these early coins after importing the technique from West Asia. Karshpanas, Puranas, and Panas were the names given to these punched coins.
Coins in ancient India were not circular like those in West Asia. They were decorative metal bars with a variety of stampings. Some coins had a single design, while others had multiple designs punched into them (typically five). The coins were made by slicing silver plates to size, with at least one corner removed.
5. Ying Yuan
The first Western coins appeared when the first Chinese coins were made. The Western model of coinage, which influenced early coins around the world, is not thought to have had any significant impact on the development of Chinese currency.
Possibly as early as 700 BCE, when cowrie shells were used as currency, the Chinese began minting their coins.
The State of Chu issued gold currency during the Warring States period. Examples known as Ying Yuan were stamped gold pieces.
They were crude gold squares with yuan characters stamped on them, denoting their weight in monetary terms.
6. Ionian Hemiobols
The ancient city of Cyme, located in the region of Ionia (the modern-day central coast of Turkey), was not far from Lydia (the cradle of coinage).
Political ties linked the two cities, and the “nobleman’s tax tokens” of Lydia inspired Cyme to create its coinage for its citizens.
Cyme’s earliest coins, Hemiobols, were made of a small fraction of silver and featured a horse’s head design.
These coins are generally dated to around 600–500 BCE, although rankings of the oldest coins depend on how coinage is defined.
They are an example of how coinage spread among Greek communities in Ionia.
7. Lydian Lion
The Lydian Lion is often described as one of the earliest minted coin types. These coins were struck in the ancient Kingdom of Lydia, now western Turkey.
Many accounts place these coins during the reign of King Alyattes, who ruled Lydia from about 610 to 550 BCE, while other estimates place early Lydian issues earlier.
People frequently cite Greek historian Herodotus when discussing Lydian coinage. He wrote that the Lydians were the first people known to use gold and silver coinage, although modern dating and terminology require care.
Before you go…
So there you have it! Hope you enjoyed this list of the 7 oldest coins in the world! If you have any questions or suggestions, please leave them in the comment section! Happy Collecting!
Check out my next article: “What is the Rarest Ancient Coin?“
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Fact-checked and refreshed on 2026-09-22 as part of GrandCollector’s editorial freshness program.