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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ardatirion, post: 1651753, member: 9204&quot;]Okay, so the first thing to understand is that native copper &quot;economies&quot; were not monetized. Copper, shells, feathers, and other precious objects were often used as forms of wealth storage, and even simultaneously, but it is only rarely that circulated as coins do. The prime example of this is in the western parts of Mexico from around the 13th century to contact. They were NOT in existence during the Mayan period. These are the cast copper axes, or hachuelas, that Chris referred to:</p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="http://www.forumancientcoins.com/gallery/albums/userpics/18271/normal_00060x00.jpg" class="bbCodeImage wysiwygImage" alt="" unselectable="on" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"><b>MEXICO, Aztec culture.</b> Circa AD 1200/1300-1525</p> <p style="text-align: center">Æ “Hachuela”&nbsp; &nbsp; (143mm x 150mm, 55.70 g)&nbsp; &nbsp; </p> <p style="text-align: center">Mushroom-shaped bronze pseudo-axe-head with curved “blade” and flanged shank&nbsp; &nbsp; </p> <p style="text-align: center">Hosler, Lechtman, &amp; Holm, <i>Axe-monies and their Relatives</i>, type 2a</p> <p style="text-align: center"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">Even these were only really wealth-storage objects until the coming of Europeans. There are also cast bronze llaamas that found in the areas controlled by the Inkan empire, but their purpose is not yet certain. </p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">Further north, the only significant copper economy that I am familiar with is in the Pacific Northwest, with the engraved plates that you illustrated earlier. As with hachuelas, I believe these were primarily wealth storage objects, except perhaps when used in trade with Europeans. Any citation to a copper &quot;economy&quot; among in the Great Plains or along the east coast is wrong. Copper was a precious object, but not a monetary one. In fact, it would be much more accurate to imagine an obsidian or chert economy, with the important stones being traded all across the continent, often from only a handful of specific sources. </p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">Here are some articles and books you may want to check out:</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">D&#039;Altroy, Terence N, Timothy K Earle,et al. 1985. “Staple Finance, Wealth Finance, and Storage in the Inka Political Economy.” Current Anthropology 26 2: 187–207. </p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">Schoonheyt, Jacques A. 2003. “Le cuivre natif utilisé comme moyen d’échange dans l’ouest canadien.” In XIII Congresso Internacionale de Numismaticá (Madrid 2003), 1503–1512.</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> <p style="text-align: left">Hosler, Dorothy, Heather Lechtman, and Olaf Holm. 1990. Axe-monies and their Relatives. Washington, DC: Dumbarton &amp; Oaks.</p> <p style="text-align: left"><br /></p> </p><p>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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