Anatolia. The first true coin of the form we know today is minted (but in Mesopotamia, silver shekels, standard 8.33-gram silver pieces, had already been used as payment for four centuries). King Alyattes of Lydia in Western Anatolia minted gold and silver coins, indicating on one side the amount of gold or silver they contained, and on the other the name of the minting authority. The entire modern monetary system is the product of the coins of King Alyattes of Lydia.
