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Message:: [QUOTE="robinjojo, post: 4576440, member: 110226"]Thank you for the comments, and it is true that the silver tetradrachms and gold coins generally were not used domestically except to finance large scale efforts, such as the building of Athens' fleet and construction projects in the 5th century BC, and Rome's use of gold to finance civil projects, such as the improvements made by Claudius to the harbor at Ostia in the first century BC. I think that the coin hoard distributions throughout the Mediterranean and further east suggest that certain coins were widely used for trade and commerce.  This is certainly true for the Attica tetradrachms. As for trust in a coin's content.  This has been a central issue over the centuries, as demonstrated by the numerous examples of coins that have been cut or counterstamped (or "chopmarked" in the case of China), and it is known that coins entering certain kingdoms were frequently tested by local authorities, and often marked with their own seal to validate content.  Merchants also tested coins passing through their hands, as demonstrated by the private countermarks found on many coins. There was an episode at Potosi, in the middle of the 17th century, when silver coinage was debased, sometimes quite seriously.  That resulted in a trial of assayers that resulted in the execution of one, Felipe Ramirez de Arellano.  Silver content was a very important issue back then, especially connected to international trade.[/QUOTE]