The first western coinage is generally attributed to the Kingdom of Lydia in Anatolia. The Greek cities of Ionia are another contender and started minting coins at the same time or soon after. However, the electrum deposits used to make these first coins were within Lydia, making them the likely first issuers of coinage.

The episode looks at the rise of the Lydian Kingdom after the fall of the Hittites and the Kingdom of Phrygia and ends with the balance of power on the death of Alyattes.

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