20 Coins,
that made history

from the clay tablet
to the American dollar

by Jurg Conzett

The history of money is divided into coin money history and credit money history. The difference is substantial. Coin money is a commodity and had never reached the all-pervasive status of credit money.

Credit money today is the medium that "rules the world," whether by coercion of the money monopoly or by permeation of society with money and money logic.

Mesopotamia, clay tablet with cuneiform writing, ca. 2350 - 2150 B.C.

The Greek word for writing originally meant "to carve". The reason for this lies in the history of writing. The oldest script, cuneiform, was developed toward the end of the 4th millennium BC in Mesopotamia (now Iraq): People wrote by pressing obliquely truncated styluses into moist clay, which left behind wedge-shaped characters. What was recorded was what moved people, and of course these were also economic transactions: sales and lists of goods, tax statements and credit agreements.

Sardis (Lydien), Stater, Gold (8,08 g), after 550 BC

The Lydian king Croesus carried out a coinage reform around the year 560. In it, for the first time in history, coins of gold and silver were in a fixed ratio. The new currency was based on the gold stater of about 8 g, which was equivalent to 10 silver staters. The stater was minted in different denominations to make it easier to pay small sums - although even the smaller denominations, the 1⁄48 staters weighing about 0.16 g, were still valuable. The new coin was so popular that the Persians retained the minting after the conquest of the Lydian Empire in 547.

Athen, Tetradrachmon, Silver (17,2 g), around 455 BC

Between 510 and 500, the Athenians introduced the coin design that would make their drachms world famous: the owl, sacred animal of the divine protector of the city of Athens, Athena. They called their new coin drachma and divided it into 6 oboloi. This system seems to be rooted in the pre-coinage past, when metal spits were used in Greece. One metal spike was an obolos, and six metal spikes made a "handful," or in Greek, a drachma. The drachma of Athens became one of the most popular trade coins of classical antiquity - its weight standard spread throughout the Mediterranean basin.

Alexander III, King of the Macedonians 336-323 BC, tetradrachmon, silver (17.1 g), Memphis (Egypt)

Millions of tetradrachms with the head of Heracles on the obverse and the figure of Zeus on the reverse were minted during the reign of Alexander. The mass issue arose after the death of Alexander. This was because merchants throughout the then known world had become accustomed to these coins. Thus, all the important trading cities minted tetradrachms of the Alexander type, and they did so until the 1st century BC.

Roman Republic, denarius, silver (4.5 g), 211 BC.

At the height and turning point of the Second Punic War against Hannibal, shortly after the conquest of Syracuse, the Romans made a radical currency cut in the years between 213 and 211. They introduced the denarius, a silver coin of about 4.5 g, which was worth 10 bronze aces, like the X, that is, the Roman ten.

Caracalla, Roman Emperor 198-217, Antoninian (= double denarius), silver (5.1 g)

The defense of the Roman borders against the incipient migration of peoples overtaxed the resources of the empire. As long as new territories were added to the empire and thus new societies had to be constantly monetized, it had not yet mattered that the nominal value of the denarius was far above its metal value. This changed, however, in the time of the soldier emperors. They raised the immense funds to pay the army only by radically reducing the silver content of the denarius. Caracalla issued a double denarius that weighed only 11⁄2 times the weight of a denarius.

The oldest advanced civilizations of mankind developed where rivers made the fields fertile, in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

In the first half of the 6th century BC, the first coins were created in Asia Minor, in the border area between the Persian Empire and the Greek world.

The goddess Athena kept her archaic smile on the coins for a very long time. That is why Athenian coins are difficult to date.

The Persian Wars (500-448 BC) established Athens' position as the protective power of the Greek cities against the Persians.

When Alexander began his great campaign against the Persians, the 70 talents in his war chest were offset by 200 talents in debt. Only a few years later, his desolate financial situation had completely changed.

Zeus, the father of the gods, can be seen with a scepter and his eagle on the reverse of the drachms of Alexander III the Great.

It was no longer the Roman bourgeoisie from which the Caesars emerged, it was more and more often the more Germanic or Syrian legions that proclaimed the emperors. In 212 Caracalla granted to all freemen in the Empire the Roman citizenship, which had been granted only rarely before.

Probably everyone knows the legend of the Roman she-wolf: Once upon a time there was a king's daughter whose father was deposed by a usurper. He forced her to become a chaste vestal virgin so that she would not bear any sons who could have endangered his rule. But Mars himself descended from heaven, raped the Vestal Virgin, and she gave birth to the twins Romulus and Remus. These were abandoned by the evil king immediately after their birth. But a she-wolf suckled them until a shepherd found them and brought them into his family. Of course, as soon as they were old enough to do so, Romulus and Remus drove the evil king away....

And Romulus slew Remus when they disagreed about the foundation of their city Rome.

For decades, the Romans had used two different coinage systems: silver coins for economic exchange with the Greek world and bronze heavy money in their own city. The most important Roman silver coin, the denarius, was not created until around the year 211, shortly after the Romans had won the 2nd Punic War against Hannibal.

Denarii were the Roman reserve currency for centuries. Our picture shows the two dioscuri Castor and Pollux. The Romans told of the divine twins that they intervened on their side in the legendary battle at Regillus lacus.

Charlemagne founded the new, Western European emperorship when Pope Leo III placed the imperial crown on his head in Rome on December 25, 800 AD.

The Arab-Islamic world appears here more powerful than the Byzantine and the occidental-Christian world. In fact, through its absolute naval domination of the Mediterranean, it dominated the traffic that could be referred to as world trade at that time.

Europe at the time of Emperor Frederick II: The son of Constance and Henry VI of Hohenstaufen, Frederick II, born in southern Italy, ruled the Sicilian Empire as king with refined financial exploitation of his progressive civil service state. He had little interest in Germany as emperor.

Italy at the time of the Renaissance: the Crusades, even if they ultimately failed, nevertheless made possible for a glorious period a Venetian colonial empire that reached as far as Greece and Crete along the Adriatic coast.

Italy's central transport position before the discoveries: Around 1500, wealth was concentrated in cities, especially in Italy, around the Mediterranean Sea. Here, excluding Paris, were the cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants: Naples, Venice, Milan and Constantinople.

Louis the Pious, ruler of the Carolingian Empire 814-840, penny, silver (1.66 g), Italy, after 814

This denarius shows on the front the name of Louis with the title of emperor. Louis the Pious was concerned with reforming canon law. For the unified coinage system, his political preference was detrimental: In 833, the ruler granted the monastery of Corvey the privilege to mint coins, presumably to make his contribution to the construction costs of the new monastery church. The privilege of minting was associated with high revenues: The holder of the right to mint the coins was entitled to the difference between the nominal value and the production costs.

Halberstadt, penny, silver (0.89 g), c. 1200

In the course of the High Middle Ages, the German emperor lost influence and the cities gained power - also in the minting of coins. Numerous trading centers occupied the right to mint coins and minted pennies for their own markets. In order to increase the minting treasury, these became increasingly poorer. They lost weight and fineness. The phenomenon culminated in the so-called bracteates, thin pennies minted on one side.

Florenz, Gold florin, Gold (3.5 g), 1252-1307

The important trading cities of Florence and Genoa began minting gold coins almost simultaneously around the year 1252. They thus compensated for the discontinuation of the Byzantine solidi, which until then had been used to pay large sums. In the banking city of Genoa, the necessary means for cashless payment transactions such as bank accounts, bank transfers and bills of exchange emerged in this century. The gold coins of Florence were an expression of a strengthened self-esteem of the merchant class. The new regiment placed the city's coat of arms, the lily, on the fiorino d'oro, which as floren was to coin European currencies for centuries to come.

Louis IX, King of France 1226-1270, Gros tournois, silver (4.22 g)

From Italy, the idea of minting larger silver coins spread to the north. The French King Louis IX created a new silver coin worth 12 pennies in 1266. Within a few years, the gros tournois spread to all of France's major fairgrounds and trading centers.

Holy Roman Empire, City of Zurich, penny 1563

Until 1648, Zurich formally belonged to the Holy Roman Empire. For this reason, the city adhered to the provisions of the coinage regulations issued at the Imperial Diet of Augsburg in 1559 when minting its coins. The obverse was to show the origin of the money, which was expressed here by the Zurich shield. For this purpose, the reverse sides of the coins had to show the imperial eagle and the indication of value.

From 1550, the economic situation of many Zurich residents deteriorated. The population multiplied by almost half between 1529 and 1585, from about 55,000 to about 79,000 inhabitants; finding work became difficult for many. From 1570, the climate also worsened, leading to crop failure and inflation. Mass poverty was the result. The prices for basic foodstuffs rose massively.

The break in the history of coins

Im 16. Jahrhundert gab es einen markanten Bruch in der Geschichte des Geldes, und zwar zweifach:

1. With the Guldiner of Sigismund "the Coin Rich" was a heavy silver coin chosen. At that time it was called Guldiner. The name indicated that it was worth as much as a gold coin. Later it was called thaler and did not change its genre until the 20th century.

2. With the end of the 16th century, the history of coin money as the dominant force in economic activity ceases. From now on, credit money played the dominant economic force.

3. Credit was often created with the bill of exchange, which took off rapidly in the 17th century. The first exchange bank was founded in 1600, and the first financial crash took place at the beginning of the 17th century. From then on, the financial market grew in importance.

Johann Caspar Herbach's book reflects the rapid development of bills of exchange and credit money.

Wechsel, Herbach, Johann Caspar: Introduction to the Thorough Understanding of the Action of Bills of Exchange, 1716

A bill of exchange is a security that contains an unconditional payment instruction from the drawer to the drawee to pay a specified sum of money to the drawer or a designated third party payee at a specified place of payment when due.

Like the check, the bill of exchange is a means of payment, but - unlike the check - it is also a means of credit.

The bill of exchange: the person at the top with the map of Europe in his hand is the personification of the bill of exchange. At the top the eye of God, below the crown. Sign that God and right supports this activity. To the right, the time (how long is the bill valid?), the compass (where will it be cashed?), the mirror (warning to be careful) and the cornucopia as a symbol of profit. Thrown to the ground is the lyre, symbol of idleness.

Below is Mercury, god of commerce, and in the background is a bustling coastal city.

Sigismund der Münzreiche, Archduke of Austria 1477-1490, Guldiner, silver (31.6 g), Hall, 1486

While silver was sufficiently available in Europe, there was a shortage of gold, which had to be imported expensively from the Islamic East. So it seemed obvious to think about a large silver coin that could at least partially replace the gold coins in trade. But this was associated with technical difficulties: A silver coin that was equal in value to a gold coin had to be many times larger and heavier.

In 1486, Hall in Tyrol succeeded in minting the guldiner, a silver coin equivalent in value to the guilder. Hall was one of the most important mints in Europe at the time. Here, silver from the rich mines of Schwaz was minted to such an extent that the lord of the mint went down in history as Sigismund "the Coin Rich".

Zurich, Guldiner, silver (29.6 g), 1512

The Guldiner was regularly minted already before 1500 in the dominions of Tyrol, Lorraine, Hesse, Saxony, Sion, Bern, Savoy, Hungary, Spain and Bohemia. Our example comes from Zurich, from 1512. It is a representative coinage, showing everything the citizens of Zurich were proud of shortly before the Reformation: the arms of Zurich, held by two lions. Above it, a shield with the imperial double-headed eagle indicates the status of imperial immediacy. Arranged around this central image are 16 coats of arms, which can be assigned to the various places where the city of Zurich provided the bailiff.

Charles III of Spain, Real de a ocho (peso) 1808 with Chinese counterstamps

One coin, two nations: This peso was minted in 1808 in Potosí, the most productive of all Spanish mints in South America. As an international trade coin, it reached as far as China. There, no fewer than twelve different silver assayers stamped it - which shows how actively the coin was used in the Middle Kingdom. With such counterstamps, the masters guaranteed that the precious metal of the foreigner was good and that the coin was acceptable as a means of payment.

Maria Theresa, Archduchess of Austria 1740-1780, thaler, silver (27.98 g), posthumous mintage, Günzburg

Shortly after her accession to the throne, Maria Theresa began minting thalers, but the famous Maria Theresa thaler, with its always consistent weight and fineness, was not created until 1753, when Austria and Bavaria agreed on a common trade coin. The weight and silver content of the thaler were guaranteed if the inscription and circumscription were intact. Anyone could quickly check this - so the Maria Theresa Thaler became the most popular trade coin of its time.

Napoleon, First Consul of the French Government 1799-1804, 5 francs, silver (24.83 g), Paris, year 11 (=1802-1803).

The French deputies not only reorganized the coinage system. The calendar, which was perceived as ecclesiastical, was also renewed. Thus, on our coin we read "Year 11". This date refers to the beginning of the revolutionary calendar on July 14, 1789, the day the Bastille was stormed. Instead of weeks, the year was divided into decades, thus proceeding according to the same system considered reasonable as in the minting of coins.

George III, King of England 1760-1820, Sovereign, Gold (7.89 g), 1817

The financial burdens of the war against Napoleon had made a reform of the English monetary system overdue. In 1816, it was carried out. Gold circulation coin and the most important nominal became the sovereign in the value of the former unit of account, the pound. Due to the immense expansion of the British Empire, it became one of the most important trade coins in the world in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The motif chosen was St. George as the dragon slayer.

United States of America, 1 Dollar 1886

In 1792, the American Congress introduced the dollar as a monetary unit; minting began two years later. Before that, there had been heated debates in Congress about the appearance of the new coins. The choices were the effigy of then-President George Washington and the personification of Liberty. Congress decided to depict Liberty. Thus, the coinage image of the new Democratic Confederacy differed from the portraits of rulers of the Old World. An eagle appeared on the reverse, a throwback to Roman antiquity.

United States of America, Trade Dollar, Silver (27.2 g), 1875

Trade dollars were issued by the USA, Great Britain and France as trade coins. The aim of these mintings was to displace the Mexican pesos from the China trade and replace them with their own silver coins. Befitting their purpose, the American Trade Dollars depict on the obverse the American Miss Liberty sitting on bales of cotton and wheat. From 1873 to 1878, in just five years, over 30 million such Trade Dollars were minted.

As in the first industrial revolution, England was for a long time the lone leader in imperialism, that is, in colonial empire-building.

United Kingdom Great Britain, Victoria, 5 pounds, 1887.

United Kingdom of Great Britain, George VI, 2 pounds, 1937.

The War of Secession (1861-1865), the war between Northern and Southern states over the abolition or retention of slavery, cost moreAmerican lives than any other war in U.S. history.

USA, Quarter Dollar

USA, 1 dollar 1974. At the end of the 1960s, the American nation was torn apart. Racial unrest and the Vietnam War shook the country. The USA urgently needed a new identification symbol. So Congress came up with the idea of creating a new dollar coin. On its obverse, the new dollar featured the portrait of the just-deceased former President Dwight D. Eisenhower (term 1953-1961).