Ancient Coins
The Invention and History of the First Coins
The first coins were most likely invented by the Lydians, the inhabitants of what is today western Turkey. The Lydians had an abundance of electrum, which is a naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. Gold and silver by themselves were already used as a means of exchange; they could simply be measured on a scale and their value assessed through the measurement. But the Lydians needed something to do with all the electrum, whose value was less certain. Their solution was to melt the electrum into circular shapes and stamp them with the sign of the king.
By the mid-sixth century BC, Lydia had approximately six mints in operation. It is probably not coincidental that ancient Lydia also became the first kingdom to have retail shops that maintained a permanent location; this was made possible by their invention of the coin.
The First Coins – The Staters
Lydia’s ancient coins were stamped with a lion’s head, which was the symbol of the king. The currency was called a “stater,” which meant standard. One stater was roughly one month’s salary for a soldier in the Lydian army. Stater coins were made in denominations of 1/3, 1/6, and even 1/96. The value of the stater was judged by the weight of the coin. The 1/3 stater weighed almost five grams, whereas the 1/96 stater weighed only 0.15 grams. The value of one electrum coin to an equivalent amount of silver was roughly one to ten.
Other Ancient Kingdoms Start Minting Coins
Not long after Lydia, another kingdom situated in modern-day Turkey, Ionia, picked up the habit of making coins. Ionian towns were politically independent from one another in the style of the Greek city-states, but were culturally and religiously united. In a sort of ancient form of the Olympics, the Ionians gathered yearly for a festival called the Panionia Pythia and stamped coins for these occasions. Like the Lydians, the Ionians used primarily electrum for their coins.
Both the Lydians and the Ionians were later engulfed by the Persian Empire. Under Darius the Great, coinage across the whole Persian kingdom was standardized and the gold Daric was introduced. This made trade between the different regions much simpler, in the same way that the modern Euro has made it easy for Europeans to travel and shop in neighboring nations.
Ancient Greek Coins
It was most likely the seafaring Aegineans of ancient Greece who minted the first Greek coins. Early Aeginean coins show a sea turtle, while later coins use a land tortoise. These early coins were silver and called a “drachm,” which means “handful”. The 6.1 gram drachm was imitated by other city-states of Greece, but Athens was hostile towards Aegina, so in 510 BC it produced a new coin called the tetradrachm. The tetradrachm was minted with the Greek goddess Athena on one side, and the owl of Athens on the opposite.
When Alexander the Great conquered much of Asia Minor, he issued large numbers of coins similar to the tetradrachm to replace those which had circulated before his rule. Alexander’s coins became the most accepted form of currency for several centuries – it wasn’t until ancient Rome began to gain prominence that the Alexandrian coins started to disappear.
Ancient Lydian Coin
|
What do you think about this article?
More in History
Latest Articles