Egyptian gold stater
# Egyptian gold stater

The gold stater (Egyptian: nfr-nb, "Nefer-nub", meaning "fine gold") was the first coin ever minted in ancient Egypt, around 360 BC during the reign of pharaoh Teos of the 30th Dynasty.

## Under Teos

Teos introduced the gold stater in order to pay salaries of Greek mercenaries who were at his service.

* Gold stater with the same weight of a Persian daric (around 8.42 grams), with an owl on the left, modelled after the Athenian model, and a papyrus on the right.
* Gold stater as a tetradrachm, with an owl on the left and an olive branch on the right, with the Demotic writing "Teos... Pharaoh".

## Under Nectanebo II

Teos' successor Nectanebo II kept this practice, though coining his personal gold staters.

* Gold stater as a daric (about 8.42 grams), obverse with a prancing horse on the right, reverse with the hieroglyphs nfr-nb.
* Small gold stater (about 2.56 grams, diameter 14-15 mm), with a probable picture of a leaping gazelle. Its attribution to Nectanebo II, however, is not confirmed.
