Sphere No.44 (Mar 2018)

Sphere #44 2018 10 shells were a medium of exchange for hundreds of years, even into the 19th century, and were an important part of the slave trade in Africa. The Chinese were among the first to use objects manufactured to represent value, probably during the Shang dynasty, when bronzed shells – bronze copies of cowrie shells – were used to represent real cowrie shells as early as 900 BC. Later, bronze objects were created in different shapes – ranging from miniature shovels to spears – to represent different values. The first round coins, however, are believed to have been minted by King Alyattes in Lydia, now part of Turkey, circa 600 BC. They were made of a silver-gold alloy stamped with the head of a lion. Numismatic experts (scholars of coins) consider an official mark to be a key characteristic distinguishing a coin from other representations of value, and the Lydian Lion is the mark of the king, making this, in their eyes, a true coin. Empires around the world soon started using this form of currency. Their control of it also enabled them to profit from its manufacture and, sometimes, its debasement. Trust me Governments have traditionally been the defender of the privilege of manufacturing official currency. Taxes, in particular, had to be paid in the official coin. When coins were made of valuable metals, the amount of metal and its purity needed to be maintained so people could trust the currency. Governments have, however, debased their coinage for different reasons at different times. An Athenian loss to Sparta in 407 BC saw 20,000 silver-mine slaves released, causing a silver shortage. The Athenians resorted to creating bronze coins with a thin exterior plating of silver. This drove people to hoard the valuable silver coins and to use the cheaper bronze coins instead so as to get rid of them. More commonly, individuals would try to shave valuable metals off coins and then pass them on, keeping the shavings for recasting. This practice, from ancient times to the nineteenth century, was punishable by harsh penalties, even death. However, monarchs were not above the practice, from Roman Emperor Nero and his successors to King Henry VIII in England. Succeeding rulers, such as Queen Elizabeth I, often had to clean up the fiscal mess of their forebears by establishing new, trusted coinage of the realm. Paper it over Promissory notes used by merchants in Sichuan in the Tang dynasty (~AD 800) became so popular that the government decided to issue its own paper notes. This ‘flying money’ as it was called, wasn’t exactly money in that each document was unique (not standardised), but merchants would exchange them among themselves. The early Song dynasty saw the issue of genuine paper money (~AD 1024). This was backed by an equivalent amount of coin held by the MONEY, MONEY, MONEY >> The first round coins are believed to have been minted by King Alyattes in Lydia, now part of Turkey, circa 600 BC.