Hey Guy............ I want to know about the history of coin or when the first coin was launched in the market and Which country had launched it . Anybody who has some information please share your information regarding history of coin . Thanks a Lot
I'm not what your question is but coins were first used in Lydia (in modern-day Turkey) in the 7th Century BC. Around that time coins were also used in India and China.
I think it's pretty much well accepted that China had coins long before there even was a Lydia, but I agree that most literature will tell you that the Lydians had the first coins in the Western world. Don't know that anyone has even pinned down an exact date for the first coins in China, or India for that matter. What I do know is that China even had notes, written on white deer skin, as early as 1250 BC. Examples still exist.
You've made posts like this before. At best, I feel you're making a gross simplification of the situation. Can you cite any worthwhile sources, particularly for the notes? The reason some people cite China as developing coinage first is that forms of proto-currency are included in most Chinese numismatic catalogs and monographs. This is almost entirely overlooked in works on Western coinage. Nevertheless, hacksilber, uncoined bullion, prototype bronze spades, and cowrie shells are all forms of wealth storage that were in widespread use before coins. Early uninscribed spades and cowrie imitations are found in Shang dynasty tombs and were likely used as forms of currency. In the west, uncoined pieces of silver, bronze, and gold were widely circulated in the same manner. As far as coined metal goes, the first inscribed spades were issued in China circa 650-400 BC. The earliest Lydian electrum coins were also produced in the early 7th century.
Coins didn't just spring into existence in Lydia but evolved. Indeed, the concept of writing circa 3100 BC probably evolved from the tokens used by Sumerian farmers trading farm assets. These tokens came to represent specific assets and then the concept that they could re[present sounds arose. This led directly to an alphabet which sprang from the symbols on these tokens and soon to writing. As time went by barter became increasingly difficult due to the increasing varieties and amounts of goods to be traded. This led to the idea of an intermediary commodity which was more easily transported and exchanged. This was naturally gold since it was recognized of value and was traded so extensively its value was about the same everywhere. Gold was weighed and traded for goods and these goods could be traded for about the same amount of gold anywhere. Soon it was seen that gold was a sort of universal barter commodity so standard weights were made by merchants for exchange. It was a very small step from this to coins being issued by kingdoms and then later silver and bronze being added as "small change".
