Tongbei in Bronze Age China (c. 1100 BC) In the late
Chinese Bronze Age, standardized cast tokens were made, such as those discovered in a tomb near
Anyang. These were replicas in bronze of earlier
Chinese currency,
cowrie shells, so they were named "
Bronze Shell".
China Henan coin factory (c. 640 – 550 BC) The world's oldest known coin factory has been excavated in the ancient city
Guanzhuang in
Henan province in
China. The factory produced shovel-shaped bronze coins between 640 B.C. and 550 B.C., making it the oldest securely dated minting site.
Iron Age Lydian and Ionian electrum coins (c. 600 BC) of
Lydia, BC coin of
Phanes from
Ephesus, 625–600 BC. Obverse:
Stag grazing right, ΦΑΝΕΩΣ (retrograde). Reverse: Two
incuse punches, each with raised intersecting lines. The earliest coins are mostly associated with
Iron Age Anatolia of the late 7th century BC, and especially with the kingdom of
Lydia perhaps during the reign of
Gyges, more certainly as
electrum coins minted for king
Alyattes of Lydia (died ). The unpredictability of the composition of naturally occurring electrum implied that it had a variable value, which greatly hampered its development. Maybe the first coins to be used for retailing on a large-scale basis were likely small silver fractions, hemiobol,
Ancient Greek coinage minted by the
Ionian Greeks in the late sixth century BC. In contrast
Herodotus mentioned the innovation made by the Lydians: though due to their numbers it is evident that some were official state issues.
Bullion and unmarked metals (6th century BC) from
Crete.
Late Bronze Age metal ingots were given standard shapes, such as the shape of an "ox-hide", suggesting that they represented standardized values. Metal
ingots, silver bullion or unmarked bars were probably in use for exchange among many of the civilizations that mastered metallurgy. The weight and purity of bullion would be the key determinant of value. In the
Achaemenid Empire in the early 6th century BC, coinage was yet unknown. The
barter system, as well as silver
bullion were used instead for trade. The practice of using silver bars for currency also seems to have been current in
Central Asia from the 6th century BC. Coins were an evolution of "currency" systems of the
Late Bronze Age, when various cultures used standard-sized ingots and tokens such as
knife money to store and transfer value. Phoenician metal ingots had to be stamped with the name of a current ruler to guarantee their worth and value, which is probably how stamping busts and designs began, although political advertising – glorification of a state or of a ruler – may also play a role.
Croesus: Pure gold and silver coins (c. 560–546 BC) The successor of Alyattes, king
Croesus (r. c. 560–546 BC), became associated with great wealth in Greek historiography. He is credited with issuing the
Croeseid, the first true
gold coins with a standardized purity for general circulation.
Achaemenid coinage (546–330 BC) When
Cyrus the Great (550–530 BC) came to power, coinage was unfamiliar in his realm. Barter and to some extent silver
bullion was used instead for trade.
Coinage of Southern Asia under the Achaemenid Empire found in the
Kabul valley, 5th century BC. Coins of this type were also found in the
Bhir Mound hoard. is a coin hoard discovered in the vicinity of
Kabul,
Afghanistan, containing numerous
Achaemenid coins as well as many
Greek coins from the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The deposit of the hoard is dated to the Achaemenid period, in approximately 380 BC. The hoard also contained many locally produced silver coins, minted by local authorities under Achaemenid rule. Several of these issues follow the "western designs" of the facing bull heads, a stag, or Persian column capitals on the obverse, and incuse punch on the reverse. According to numismatist
Joe Cribb, these finds suggest that the idea of coinage and the use of punch-marked techniques was introduced to India from the Achaemenid Empire during the 4th century BC. More Achaemenid coins were also found in
Pushkalavati and in
Bhir Mound. According to
Aristotle (fr. 611,37, ed. V. Rose) and
Pollux (Onamastikon IX.83), the first issuer of Greek coinage was
Hermodike of Kyme. The most ancient inscribed coin known is from nearby
Caria. This coin has a Greek legend reading
phaenos emi sema interpreted variously as "I am the badge of Phanes", or "I am the sign of light". The
Phanes coins are among the earliest of Greek coins; a
hemihekte of the issue was found in the foundation deposit of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos (the oldest deposit of
electrum coins discovered). One assumption is that Phanes was a mercenary mentioned by Herodotus, another that this coin is associated with the primeval god
Phanes or "Phanes" might have been an epithet of the local goddess identified with Artemis.
Barclay V. Head found these suggestions unlikely and thought it more probably "the name of some prominent citizen of Ephesus". Another candidate for the site of the earliest coins is
Aegina, where
Chelone ("turtle") coins were first minted c. 700 BC. Coins from
Athens and
Corinth appeared shortly thereafter, known to exist at least since the late 6th century BC. File:LYCIA, Phaselis. Circa 550-530-20 BC.jpg|Coin of
Phaselis, Lycia, c. 550–530/20 BC. File:LYCIA, Uncertain king. Circa 520-470-60 BC.jpg|Coin of Lycia, c. 520–470/60 BC. File:LYCIA, Uncertain. Circa 520-470-60 BC.jpg|alt=Lycia coin. Circa 520-470 BCE. Struck with worn obverse die.|Lycia coin, c. 520-470 BC. Struck with worn obverse die. File:LESBOS, Unattributed Koinon mint. Circa 510-480 BC.jpg|Coin of
Lesbos,
Ionia, c. 510–80 BC.
Antiquity Classical Greek antiquity (480 BC~) The
Classical period saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of fine silver and gold coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary hero on one side, and a symbol of the city on the other. Some coins employed a visual pun: some coins from
Rhodes featured a
rose, since the Greek word for rose is
rhodon. The use of inscriptions on coins also began, usually the name of the issuing city. The wealthy cities of Sicily produced some especially fine coins. The large silver
decadrachmes (10-drachmes) coin from
Syracuse is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever. Syracusan issues were rather standard in their imprints, one side bearing the head of the nymph
Arethusa and the other usually a victorious
quadriga. The
tyrants of Syracuse were fabulously rich, and part of their
public relations policy was to fund quadrigas for the
Olympic chariot race, a very expensive undertaking. As they were often able to finance more than one quadriga at a time, they were frequent victors in this highly prestigious event. Syracuse was one of the epicenters of numismatic art during the classical period. Led by the engravers Kimon and Euainetos, Syracuse produced some of the finest coin designs of antiquity. Amongst the first centers to
produce coins during the Greek colonization of Southern Italy (the so-called "
Magna Graecia") were
Paestum,
Crotone,
Sybaris,
Caulonia,
Metapontum, and
Taranto. These ancient cities started producing coins from 550 BC to 510 BC. Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to in
Populonia, a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy. In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia. File:ISLANDS off ATTICA. Aegina. Circa 456-45-431 BC.jpg|
Aegina coin type, incuse skew pattern, c. 456/45–431 BC File:MACEDON, Akanthos. Circa 470-430 BC.jpg|Coin of
Akanthos,
Macedon, c. 470-430 BC. File:PAMPHYLIA, Aspendos. Circa 465-430 BC.jpg|Coin of
Aspendos,
Pamphylia, c. 465–430 BC. File:KORKYRA, Korkyra. Circa 350-30-290-70 BC.jpg|Coin from
Korkyra, c. 350/30–290/70 BC. File:CYPRUS, Paphos. Onasi(...). Mid 5th century BC.jpg|Coin of
Cyprus, c. 450 BC.
Appearance of dynastic portraiture (5th century BC) satraps and dynasts in
Asia Minor developed the usage of portraiture from c. 420 BC. Portrait of the satrap of
Lydia,
Tissaphernes (c. 445–395 BC). Although many of the first coins illustrated the images of various gods, the first portraiture of actual rulers appears with the coinage of
Lycia in the 5th century BC. No ruler had dared illustrating his own portrait on coinage until that time. A slightly earlier candidate for the first portrait-coin is
Themistocles the Athenian general, who became a Governor of
Magnesia on the Meander, c. 465–459 BC, for the Achaemenid Empire, although there is some question as to whether his coins may have represented
Zeus rather than himself. Themistocles may have been in a unique position in which he could transfer the notion of individual
portraiture, already current in the Greek world, and at the same time wield the dynastic power of an Achaemenid dynasty who could issue his own coins and illustrate them as he wished. From the time of
Alexander the Great, portraiture of the issuing ruler would then become a standard, generalized, feature of coinage. File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Kherei. Circa 440-30-410 BC.jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler
Kherei wearing the Persian cap on the reverse of his coins (ruled 410–390 BC). File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Erbbina. Circa 430-20-400 BC.jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler
Erbbina wearing the Persian cap on the reverse of his coins (ruled 390–380 BC). File:DYNASTS of LYCIA. Perikles. Circa 380-360 BC.jpg|Portrait of Lycian ruler
Perikles facing (ruled 380–360 BC).
Indian coins (c. 400 BC – AD 100) coins, 3rd century BC The
Karshapana is the earliest
punch-marked coin found in India, produced from at least the mid-4th century BC, and possibly as early as 575 BC, influenced by similar coins produced in
Gandhara under the Achaemenid empire, such as those of the
Kabul hoard, or other examples found at
Pushkalavati and in
Bhir Mound.
Chinese round coins (350 BC~) –
Warring States Period, c. 300–220 BC. Four Hua (四化, 30mm, 6.94 g). Legend
Yi Si Hua ([City of] Yi Four Hua).
In China, early round coins appeared in the 4th century BC and were adopted for all China by Emperor
Qin Shi Huang Di at the end of 3rd century BC. The round coin, the precursor of the familiar
cash coin, circulated in both the spade and knife money areas in the Zhou period, from around 350 BC. Apart from two small and presumably late coins from the State of Qin, coins from the spade money area have a round hole and refer to the
jin and
liang units. Those from the knife money area have a square hole and are denominated in
hua (化). Although for discussion purposes the Zhou coins are divided up into categories of knives, spades, and round coins, it is apparent from archaeological finds that most of the various kinds circulated together. A hoard found in 1981, near Hebi in north Henan province, consisted of: 3,537 Gong spades, 3 Anyi arched foot spades, 8 Liang
Dang Lie spades, 18 Liang square foot spades and 1,180 Yuan round coins, all contained in three clay jars.
Hellenistic period (320 BC – AD 30) The
Hellenistic period was characterized by the spread of Greek culture across a large part of the known world. Greek-speaking kingdoms were established in
Egypt and
Syria, and for a time also in
Iran and as far east as what is now
Afghanistan and northwestern
India. Greek traders spread Greek coins across this vast area, and the new kingdoms soon began to produce their own coins. Because these kingdoms were much larger and wealthier than the Greek city states of the classical period, their coins tended to be more mass-produced, as well as larger, and more frequently in gold. They often lacked the aesthetic delicacy of coins of the earlier period. Still, some of the
Greco-Bactrian coins, and those of their successors in India, the
Indo-Greeks, are considered the finest examples of Greek numismatic art with "a nice blend of realism and idealization", including the largest coins to be minted in the Hellenistic world: the largest gold coin was minted by
Eucratides (reigned 171–145 BC), the largest silver coin by the Indo-Greek king
Amyntas Nikator (reigned c. 95–90 BC). The portraits "show a degree of individuality never matched by the often bland depictions of their royal contemporaries further West" (Roger Ling, "Greece and the Hellenistic World"). File:Seleucus Nicator Ai Khanoum mint.jpg|alt=Seleucus Nicator (312–281 BCE), Ai Khanoum.|
Seleucus Nicator (312–281 BC),
Ai Khanoum File:Antiochos I Soter Ai Khanoum mint.jpg|
Antiochus I (281–261 BC),
Ai Khanoum File:Coin of Antialkidas.jpg|Bilingual coin of
Indo-Greek king
Antialcidas (105–95 BC) File:Coin of the Bactrian King Agathokles.jpg|Bilingual coin of
Agathocles of Bactria with
Hindu deities, c. 180 BC
Roman period (290 BC~) Coinage followed Greek colonization and influence first around the Mediterranean and soon after to North Africa (including Egypt), Syria, Persia, and the Balkans. Coins came late to the
Roman Republic compared with the rest of the
Mediterranean, especially
Greece and Asia Minor where coins were invented in the 7th century BC. The
currency of central
Italy was influenced by its natural resources, with
bronze being abundant (the
Etruscans were famous metal workers in bronze and iron) and
silver ore being scarce. The coinage of the Roman Republic started with a few silver coins apparently devised for trade with Celtic in northern Italy and the Greek colonies in Southern Italy, and heavy
cast bronze pieces for use in Central Italy. The first
Roman coins, which were crude, heavy cast bronzes, were issued c. 289 BC. Amisano, in a general publication, including the Etruscan coinage, attributing it the beginning to about 550 BC in
Populonia, a chronology that would leave out the contribution of the Greeks of Magna Graecia and attribute to the Etruscans the burden of introducing the coin in Italy. In this work, constant reference is made to classical sources, and credit is given to the origin of the Etruscan Lydia, a source supported by Herodotus, and also to the invention of coin in Lydia. consistent with e.g. France.
Debasement of coin was widespread. There were periods of significant debasement in 1340–60 and 1417–29, when no small coins were minted, and by the 15th century the issuance of small coin was further restricted by government restrictions and even prohibitions. With the exception of the
Great Debasement, England's coins were consistently minted from sterling silver (silver content of 92.5%). A lower quality of silver with more copper mixed in, used in Barcelona, was called
billon.
Italy has been influential at a coinage point of view: the
Florentine florin, one of the most used coinage types in European history and one of the most important coins in Western history, was struck in
Florence in the
13th century, while the
Venetian sequin, minted from 1284 to 1797, was the most prestigious gold coin in circulation in the commercial centers of the
Mediterranean Sea. The Florentine florin was the first
European gold coin struck in sufficient quantities since the 7th century to play a significant commercial role. The Florentine florin was used for larger transactions such as those used in dowries, international trade or for tax-related matters. File:Cunincpert tremissis 612190 reverse.jpg|
Lombardic Tremissis depicting Saint Michael, AD 688–700 File:BorandukhtCoinHistoryofIran.jpg|Silver coin of
Borandukht of Persian
Sassanian Empire, AD 629 File:Silver Dirham.png|
Silver Dirham of the
Umayyad Caliphate, AD 729; minted by using Persian Sassanian framework File:Al-Mu'tamid-coin.jpg|
Abbasid coin, c. 1080s File:Almoravid dinar 1138 631905.jpg|
Almoravid coin, 1138–1139 File:Zecchino Antonio Venier 1382.jpg|
Venetian sequin, 1382
Modern history Genoese coins became important in the 16th century during the
Golden age of Genoese banking, with the
Spanish Empire funnelling its massive wealth from
Spanish America through the
Bank of Saint George. With the decline in the fortunes of the Genoese banks and the Spanish Empire in the 17th century, however, the
Genoese lira also depreciated substantially. The silver scudo's value increased to 6.5 lire in 1646, 7.4 lire in 1671, and 8.74 lire just before the
Austrian occupation of Genoa in 1746. Variations in the weight of precious metals used in international trade, particularly in imports of spices and textiles into Europe, explain the numerous monetary reforms that occurred in this period. The effect of these transactions on the available reserves of gold and silver was at the origin of the various monetary reforms, which changed the price of silver compared to gold. Faced with the distinct monetary systems developed by
Genoa,
Venice or
Florence, the widespread use in the 15th century of the silver
thaler, of constant size and weight, allowed conversion operations to be limited and therefore exchanges facilitated. The thaler was the monetary unit of the Germanic countries until the 19th century and is considered the ancestor of the
United States dollar. At the same time, the Mexican Mint was established on May 11, 1535, by order of the Spanish king following the
Spanish colonization of the Americas. Opened in April 1536, this mint had the right to mint silver
Spanish real which became the basis of the monetary system of the
Spanish Empire.
Louis XIII had the
Louis d'or minted in 1640 to compete with these coins. The first attested
siege coins appeared at the
siege of Pavia in 1524. Auxiliary coins consisted, among the Greeks and Romans as in our modern societies, of coins strongly linked to copper. In particular, the red copper alloy was used for its physical properties, suitable for objects constantly subjected to manipulation: malleability, resistance to impacts, wear and corrosion (only gold has better resistance to corrosion). This alloy was often mixed with a little tin, zinc and especially nickel for their anti-corrosive, ductile and anti-fouling properties. File:Silver Coin of Jalaluddin.jpg|Silver coin of the 15th-century Bengal Sultanate ruler
Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah File:Genova doppia 1639.jpg|Genoese doppia, 1639 File:France 1640 4 Louis d’or (Louis XIII).jpg|
Louis d'or, 1640 File:Wildermann thaler.jpg|
Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel Thaler minted in 1629 File:Genbun Inari Koban Kin.jpg|Japanese local currency
Genbun Inari Koban Kin, –1741 File:Potosì 8 reales 1768 131206.jpg|1768 silver
Spanish Dollar, or eight
reales coin (the "piece of eight" of pirate fame), minted throughout the
Spanish Empire File:TURKEY, SULTAN MAHMUD II 1818 -2 RUMI GOLD b - Flickr - woody1778a.jpg|
Ottoman coin, 1818 File:One Rupee East India Company.JPG|One Rupee coin issued by the
East India Company, 1835 File:Coins minted at the Royal Mint of Great Britain.jpg|British coins 15-20 centuries == Value ==