These days, owning gold coins can look a little different ... the Mexican volcanoes Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl in the background. The back of the coin features the Mexican Coat of Arms.

But Alyattes had been making coins out of electrum, a naturally occurring gold-and-silver alloy that often has bits of other metals in it. Alyattes' coins were standardized based on weight ...