ambassador to Byzantium, who received the town as a hereditary lordship; Zaccaria and his descendants amassed a considerable fortune from his properties there, especially the rich alum mines. It remained a Genoese colony until it was taken by the Turks in 1455. It is a titular see of the Roman Catholic Church. In 1914, Phocaea was the location of a massacre against ethnic Greek civilians by Turkish irregular bands. Coinage Probably following the Lydians, the Phocaeans were among the earliest in the world to make and use coins as money. Its earliest coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of silver and gold. The British Museum has a Phocaean coin containing the image of a seal dating from 600 to 550 BC. See also Cyme (Aeolis) 25 Phocaea, an asteroid named after the city List of ancient Greek cities Notes References Herodotus, The Persian Wars, Translated by A. D. Godley, (Loeb Classical Library, Nos. 117–120), Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press (1920) . Pausanias, Description of Greece, Books I-II, translated by Horace Leonard Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London, William Heinemann Ltd. (1918) . Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (Eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.) London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. (1855). Stillwell, Richard, The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites, (Editors: Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald and Marian Holland McAllister) (1976). . Strabo, Geography, translated by Horace Leonard Jones; Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann, Ltd. (1924). Vol. 3, Books 6–7 , Vol. 6, Books 13–14 . External links British Museum: "Gold ring engraved with a woman at an altar", circa 350 BC, Phocaea "Silver stater, with turtle", late 6th century BC Perseus Coin Catalog: "Dewing 2304", Phocaea, circa 477 BC–388 BC Obverse: Helmeted head of Athena, profile to the left; below, seal Reverse: Quadripartite incuse square Catalog of Greek Coins of Ionia: Plate IV: Ionian Electrum, Phocaea, 6th, 5th and 4th century BC Plate V: Ionian Electrum, Phocaea, 5th and 4th century BC States and territories established in the 9th century BC 9th-century BC establishments Populated places in ancient Ionia Former populated places in Turkey Populated places established in the 9th century BC Achaemenid ports Ancient Greek archaeological sites in Turkey Catholic titular sees in Asia Geography of İzmir Province History of İzmir Province Members of the Delian League Greek city-states Foça District