When and where were the first coins made showing the currency or a face value?

History

Barter is the exchange of objects or services for other equivalent ones, and differs from the usual buying and selling in that it does not involve money in the transaction. This system presented difficulties for transactions, so different forms of “commodity-currency” began to appear as a unit of account. These goods as a means of payment were also impractical, since many were perishable and difficult to accumulate. As a solution, they were soon replaced by objects or materials made of precious metals. These precious metals took many forms depending on the place, for example bricks (ingots), rings, plates, powder, knives or knives. For practical and uniformity reasons, the form of discs of different sizes and easily transportable became generalized. This is how the coin was born.

In Mohenjo-Daro and Harappa, now in Pakistan, seals dated between 2500 B.C. and 1750 B.C. have been found, but it is not certain that they were coins. The earliest coins were minted between the 7th-6th century BC and the 1st century AD.

As early as 1100 BC, miniatures of bronze knives, axes and other tools used to replace the real tools that served as a medium of exchange were circulating in China. In 1979 and 1980 some coins from the ancient Loulan kingdom were discovered, apparently dating from the Mesolithic period.

When and where were the first coins made showing the currency or a face value?

In what was known as Asia Minor, in the kingdom of Lydia, present-day Turkey, the world’s first coin was born in the 7th century B.C., a natural alloy of gold and silver known as electrum. Its face value was one third of a stater and its weight was 4.75 grams. From then on, precious metals dominated monetary coinage until 1933, whether in gold or silver.

Historians and numismatic researchers fix the ancient kingdom of Lydia as the geographical area where the first coin in the world was minted, made of a natural amalgam of gold and silver called electrum, which had a value of one third of a stater, a Greek measure adopted by the rest of the kingdoms and nations for several centuries, until the arrival of the Roman denarius.

Located to the west of the Anatolian peninsula, in what today are the Turkish provinces of Izmir and Manisa, Lydia was a kingdom and empire, from the fall of the Hittite until its conquest by the Persians.

Legends and mythology tell that Lydia had the esteem of Olympus, so much so that its inhabitants were entertained with a river, the Pactolus, from which gold flowed. Another myth held that King Midas bathed in its waters, who turned everything he touched into gold, filling its banks with the precious metal. Hence, the metal deposited on the shores served as the basis for the creation of the world’s first monetary system.

Thus, from the shores of the Mediterranean, Aegean and Black Seas, a new “civilization” emerged that would mark the future of mankind: currency as a means of economic transaction, payment for services, object of wealth and product of hoarding.

Where were the first coins made?

The world’s first coins appeared around 600 B.C., jingling around in the pockets of the Lydians, a kingdom tied to ancient Greece and located in modern-day Turkey. They featured the stylized head of a lion and were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver. The concept of money had been around awhile.

When were coins first made?

Early developments, c. 650–490 bc. True coinage began soon after 650 bc. The 6th-century Greek poet Xenophanes, quoted by the historian Herodotus, ascribed its invention to the Lydians, “the first to strike and use coins of gold and silver.” King Croesus of Lydia (reigned c.



What was the first coin currency?

The Mint delivered the nation’s first circulating coins on March 1, 1793: 11,178 copper cents. These new cents caused a bit of a public outcry. They were larger than a modern quarter, a bulky size for small change.

Who made the first coin ever?

Coins were introduced as a method of payment around the 6th or 5th century BCE. The invention of coins is still shrouded in mystery: According to Herdotous (I, 94), coins were first minted by the Lydians, while Aristotle claims that the first coins were minted by Demodike of Kyrme, the wife of King Midas of Phrygia.

Who was the first person to put their face on a coin?

The first human being who dared to have his individual features presented on coins was Tissaphernes (c. 445-395 BC), a Persian nobleman and satrap of Lydia.

What is the oldest currency on earth?

The British pound



The British pound, which has been used for over 1,200 years, is the oldest currency in the world. Dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, the pound underwent many changes before becoming the currency we know and use today.

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