Coinage (Lydian electrum coins)
Moneda acuñada de electro
- Date
- c. 620 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Sardis, Lydia, Turkey
- Credited to
- Kingdom of Lydia (Ardys, Alyattes, Croesus)
- Field
- Communication
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
Small electrum ingots of standardised weight, stamped with the king's seal as a guarantee of value. It turns metal into portable, easily verifiable fiat money.
China independently developed bronze spade- and knife-shaped coins around the 7th-6th centuries BCE; India developed punch-marked coins around the 6th century BCE.
What it led to
- A monetary economy that replaced barter and the weighing of silver in markets
- Payment of mercenaries and soldiers in cash, the basis of the professional army
- State taxation in coin and public treasuries
- Rapid spread through the Greek poleis and Persia (the daric) as an instrument of sovereignty
Built on
- Silver by cupellationc. 3500 BCE
- Cylinder sealc. 3500 BCE
- Commodity money (barley and silver standards)c. 3400 BCE
- Silver by weight as money standardc. 2500 BCE
- Weighing balance
- Weighed silver ingots (hacksilver)