Are you interested in learning about the Oldest Coins in the World? Do you know how people made the first coins in the past?
Have you ever seen the image of the oldest English coin?
Do you know how much money is the oldest coin in the world? Have you read about the top 10 oldest currency in the world? Do you know 3 of the most famous coins? What is the oldest coin in America? Do you know?
It is usually interesting for many people to know more about early exchanges and economic flows.
If you are one of these people, join us in this article to know more about the first coins.
History of coins and their production method
The history of coins dates back to the first millennium BC. Here are some examples of early coins among the most well-known coins in the world.
Read More : Importance of coins in history and life
These coins of ancient times include:
• Lydian Lion coins
• Persian daric and siglos
• Tong Bei
The metal was then placed on the anvil to produce various metal pieces called coins with successive hammer and anvil blows.
Of course, the Chinese coin production method was slightly different, and they mainly used the casting method to produce coins. Gradually, this method spread to Southeast Asia and Japan.
Metal was a popular medium of exchange in the past. Because it was durable enough, it was also possible for people to carry it.
Do you know how ancient Egypt produced coins?
Consumers in the past used gold bars of a certain weight to produce coins. Gold rings were also standard in the Middle East for a long time. Of course, people did not only use coins as money, but these coins also had an ornamental aspect.
People used gold and silver ingots more than other metals to produce coins because they were easier to cut.
People in the past used to choose the most available metals to select the coin metal. For example, heavy copper coins around the Aegean Sea were a form of money.
Read more: The last pharaoh of ancient Egypt
What are the oldest coins in the world?
What do you know about lydian lion coin value? If we want to refer to the oldest coin globally, we must introduce Lydian Lion because this coin is more than 2700 years old.
You may be interested to know that this coin is now in the British Museum.
The design on this coin is a roaring lion. The roaring lion is the symbol of the Lydian kings.
The coin, which is the oldest coin globally, is made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver.
The symbol of the royal lion seen on the coin is similar to the seal and shows the coin’s value. These coins were created before the coins of ancient Greece were minted.
The Seleucids, Parthians, and Sassanids also created Islamic coins.
The minting of Indian ancient coins has also been influenced by Greek, Roman, and Islamic influences.
Appearance and beauty of coins – historical coins
In the beginning, when people decided to produce coins for more accessible exchanges, they also paid attention to its aesthetics and did not provide simple engravings on metal parts but created beautiful artistic engravings on them.
Most of the engravings on the coins included characters from Greek mythology.
Apart from the beauty and engraving aspect of coins, it is necessary to know that the production and invention of coins were a fundamental change in the Human World.
Because this invention was very influential in history and led to the formation of trade between peoples in different lands, with the production of coins in 600 BC, exchanging goods and commodities between people became more accessible.
The process of making coins by the Romans – historical coins
Although today making coins is done by machines and in factories, the Romans made coins by hand.
The Romans made early Roman coins in 200 BC and used bronze to make those coins.
However, these Roman coins evolved into silver, gold, and copper.
It is interesting to note that coinage followed Greek colonization and influence, which first took place around the Mediterranean and later in North Africa, including Egypt, Syria, Iran, and the Balkans.
If you compare the time of coinage with other Mediterranean regions, especially Greece and Asia Minor, you will find that coins flourished later in the Roman Republic. (Howgego, 1995)
The denarius was the most popular and common coin in the Roman Empire, produced by the ancient Romans to make silver.
It is interesting to know that this coin was common for five centuries. The Romans used two different processes, cold minting and hot minting, to make coins.
The Oldest Coins in the World and the Middle East
The ancient kings of the Middle East, Egypt, Sumer, and Babylon did not use any coins for trade. Over time, the use of coins Lydian kingdom of Croesus and Persian satrapies reached Iran via Asia Minor. Do you know who the Achaemenid dynasty’s first ruler was to mint coins? Darius I, who ruled from 522 to 486 BC, was probably the first Persian king to mint coins.
In the Achaemenid Empire in the early sixth century BC, coinage was unknown as a common method of producing the Oldest Coins in the World. Instead of minting coins, they used silver bullion for trade. (Metcalf, 2016)
Production methods The Oldest Coins in the World
As mentioned earlier, people in ancient times used the multiplication method to produce the Oldest Coins in the World. Of course, there was another standard method called casting.
One of the main reasons for using metals to produce coins and money was the possibility of melting them and using the casting method.
Thus, casting became one of the main methods of coin production at that time.
Read more : Top 10 oldest civilization in the world
Conclusion information about historical coins
Examining the Oldest Coins in the World shows us how much time and art people used to mint coins in ancient times. For this reason, ancient coins are precious. In this article, we explored the Oldest Coins in the World in different geographical areas and explained about kings. We hope you enjoy reading this article.
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References:
1. Metcalf, W. E. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Coinage (Oxford Handbooks) (Illustrated ed.). Oxford University Press.
2. Howgego, C. (1995). Ancient History from Coins (Approaching the Ancient World). Routledge.
