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Coins
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All children
love to collect coins to put in their little piggy banks.
Some people even start collecting old coins from different
countries as a hobby. So, for all those who enjoy collecting
coins, we will talk about when these precious possessions
first came into existence.
A coin is
actually a piece of metal of standard weight and alloy, which
has the mark or stamp of the person(s) who issued it.
Different coins stand for different values of money. The
Lydians were the first to create coins in the 17th century.
They were a powerful and rich community living in the Asia
Minor. These ancient coins were made from a substance called 'electrum',
consisting of 75% gold and 25% silver. They looked similar to a
bean in terms of size and shape and were named 'staters' or
'standards.' |
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Indian Coins |
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Looking at these 'staters',
the Greeks were inspired to have the same type of standard metal
money, which resulted in them producing coins. In the span of about
100 years, nearly all the neighboring cities of Greece and Asia
Minor on the islands of Aegean Sea, Sicily and parts of Southern
Italy had developed their own coinages. Since gold was the most
sought after metal, the gold coins were the most valuable, after
which came silver and then copper.
Roman Coins
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The Greek coins
were used for about 500 years, following which the Romans took
over for the same amount of time. After this, from the year 500
to 1400, the usage of coins dropped considerably; coins were not
very attractive and tended to be thin in weight. It was only in
the 15th century that the art of coinage was revived. At
that time, metals too became more available and secondly,
there were many skilled artists who were able to make engravings
on the coin dies.
The British coins
were present even before the arrival of the Romans. The
production of 70 mints soon took place and by 1850, the
Royal Mint became a monopoly and established its position in the
Civil Service. Coins may not always
seem to very valuable (compared to paper money) but together they
are a fortune. If we are responsible about collecting and saving
rare coins, we will learn to appreciate and respect money on the
whole. |
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