- Th e coins were 80 percent copper and 20 percent other
metals, usually lead. Th ey were punched aft er the manner
of Indian coins, with the blank coins being heated to soft en
them before punching.
Copper coins remained the fundamental coinage of an-
cient China, but the government did not always have control
over their size and contents. Mine owners minted their own
coins. Th eir shapes varied, with oval becoming common by
the fi rst century c.e. Th ey tended to have symbols represent-
ing their value where Indian coins would have portraits, and
on their other sides they would have the name of the minter
and the approximate date the coin had been struck. Th e dates
were not precise because the punch with the date would be
used until it wore out, probably within a few months of use.
In 9 c.e. the Chinese government introduced 28 new de-
nominations of coins, made of gold, silver, copper, tin, iron,
lead, cowrie shells, and tortoiseshell. Th ey came in many pat-
terns, including circular, spoon-shaped, and shaped like a
person standing. Apparently, the new coins did not catch on.
In 25 c.e. the Chinese government again exerted control over
coinage, reestablishing the fi ve shu coin as the basic denomi-
nation. Gold ingots were sometimes used as money, but only
for large purchases, because an ingot was worth about 10,000
fi ve shu coins.
In the Japanese islands Chinese copper coins were used
as money starting perhaps in the fi rst century c.e. When
Queen Himiko (fl ourished in the 200s c.e.) sent tribute to the
Chinese emperor, she would receive gift s in return. Among
these gift s would be sacks of copper coins, which would then
be circulated among the Japanese.
EUROPE
BY KIRK H. BEETZ
Until the early 200s b.c.e. Europe outside Italy and Greece
probably did not mint coins. At that time, the favorite coins
among Europeans were Macedonian coins from the 300s
and 200s b.c.e. Eastern Europeans were particularly fond of
Macedonian coins featuring chariots, from the era of Phil-
lip II (r. 359–336 b.c.e.) and Alexander the Great (r. 336–324
b.c.e.) and preferred them to Roman coins. Until the Roman
Empire imposed silver coinage on most of Europe, eastern
and southern Europeans preferred silver coins, but western
and northern Europeans preferred gold coins. Th e problem
with silver coins was that their silver content could be adul-
terated (corrupted or debased) without the visible loss of sil-
ver. Among western and northern Celts, gold was thought
to be more trustworthy because when it was mixed with less
valuable metals, the loss of gold would be visible.
For most of its history before the coming of the Roman
Empire, Europe relied on barter for buying and selling goods.
Among the Celts, cattle were the most valuable asset for most
people, and goods were oft en valued by how many heads of
cattle they were worth. Th is continued to be the case in Ire-
land and parts of Britain even at the fall of the Western Ro-
man Empire in 476 c.e., even though southern Britain was
the closest region in northern and western Europe to having a
true cash economy at the time Julius Caesar conquered Gaul
in 58–50 b.c.e.
As early as 1500 b.c.e. Europeans used copper ingots,
gold ingots, and torques of gold, silver, copper, or bronze as
mediums of exchange. A torque was a thick neck ring worn
as decoration and as a sign of social status; torques were oft en
exchanged with merchants for goods. Th e Germanic peoples
of northern Europe and Scandinavia wore armlets that they
could remove to exchange for goods. Th e armlets were some-
times gift s from kings to their followers. A king could im-
prove his reputation and secure the loyalty of his followers by
distributing armlets, known as rings, among them.
Th e fi rst coins minted in Europe outside Rome and
Greece were meant to be used like the Germanic armlets. A
chief or king would have coins minted with his or her like-
ness and a mark that showed where the mint was located. Th e
numbers and words on the coins would be copied from Greek
coins. It was unlikely that what the numbers or words meant
was important, because until the Roman conquest most Eu-
ropeans were illiterate. It was the resemblance to the coinage
of Macedonia that was important.
Celtic chiefs manufactured coins to display their power
and to give to followers as symbols of the followers’ indebt-
edness to their chief. When diners left the chief ’s house, the
chief would present them with a gift as they were leaving.
Th ese gift s were oft en coins, and the more coins the chief
gave, the more indebted the recipient was. In about 100 b.c.e.
the Greek historian Posidonius observed Louernius, a chief
of the Celtic Arverni tribe, stage a great feast lasting several
days to display his wealth. He then rode his chariot through
the countryside while tossing “pieces of gold and silver” to the
crowd that followed him. Th ese “pieces” were probably coins,
and their distribution among the people was intended to bind
those people to Louernius.
Th e coins were not necessarily for spending. Th e portrait
of the chief or king on one side reminded the coin’s holder
of the power of that chief or king, and possessing the coin
showed that its owner shared in that power. It was important
that a coin have the amount of gold or silver in it that the
minter claimed was in it, because some of the chief or king’s
reputation, and therefore some of his or her power, lay in the
actual value of the coin, even if it was not meant to be spent.
Th us, the Celts manufactured coins, but the coins were not
inevitably part of a cash economy. In most of Europe north
of southern France, even where there was an abundance
of coins, barter remained the basis of trading until Roman
times. Among many Gauls and the Germanic peoples, coins
were hoarded, probably valued more for the gold or silver in
them than as cash.
During the late 200s b.c.e. carving dies became a spe-
cialized craft. Dies were the stamps used to impress designs
on blank coins. First, minters would weigh the metal for the
coins. Th en they would melt the metal, usually using ingots758 money and coinage: Europe