History of coins 367137 213361318 2008-05-19T00:10:01Z 24.254.95.74 {{Expand|date=March 2008}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2008}} [[Image:Hancoin1large.jpg|thumb|A bronze coin (5 Zhu, 五銖) of the Chinese [[Han Dynasty]]—circa 1st century BC.]] [[Image:ClaudiusII(CNG).jpg|thumb|An ancient Greek coin, struck under Roman rule, circa 268 AD.]] The '''history of coins''' extends from ancient times to the present. [[Coins]] are still widely used for monetary and other purposes. Any history of coins is going to be very incomplete, money being a central theme in human history since its invention. One could approach the history of minting technologies, the history shown by the images on coins, the history of economics, the history of coin collecting or collectors, or many other topics. A recently published history of the greatest treasures and hoards ever found is fascinating reading. Many histories have been published of the politics around the creation of a single coin, notably the [[crime of 1873]] and its connection to [[silver coin]]age of the United States. The history of mining, and various gold and silver rushes and their associated pioneer coining efforts are also extremely interesting reading. Even something as lowly as the history of counterfeiting leads one in a thousand interesting directions. [[Numismatics]] is, by its very nature, the study of history. Coins have often been referred to as "History in Your Hands." In a tomb of [[Shang Dynasty]] dating back to [[11th century BC]] shows what may be the first cast copper money. All western histories of coins begin with their invention at some time slightly before or after 600 BC in [[Lydia]]. Since that time, coins have been the most universal embodiment of [[money]]. These first coins were made of [[electrum]], a naturally occurring pale yellow mixture of gold and silver that was further alloyed with silver and copper. Also the [[Persia]]n coins were very famous in the Persian and [[Sassanids]] era. There are lots of coins that have been found in [[Susa]] and in [[Ctesiphon]] The most famous and widely collected coins of antiquity are [[Roman currency|Roman coins]] and [[Greek coins]]. The [[Byzantine Empire]] minted many [[Byzantine currency|coins]], including very thin gold coins bearing the image of the [[Christian]] cross and various [[Byzantine emperors]]. Many coins are circular but some were rectangular. ==Minting Technologies== Ancient coins were produced through a process of hitting a [[Hammered coinage|hammer]] positioned over an anvil. The Chinese produced primarily [[cast coinage]]. Relatively few non Chinese cast coins were produced by governments, however it was a common practice amongst counterfeiters. Since the early 1700s, presses have been used, beginning with screw presses and progressing in the 1800s towards steam driven presses. Recently modern minting techniques involving electric and hydraulic presses have been more commonly employed. ==See also== {{portalpar|Numismatics|United States penny, obverse, 2002.jpg}} {{commonscat|Coins}} *[[Coinage Metals]] *[[Counterfeit]] *[[Currency]] *[[Numismatics]] ==External links== *[http://worldcoingallery.com/ World Coin Gallery] - Self-proclaimed largest coin site in the world, with over 10,000 coins *[http://rg.ancients.info/lion/article.html World's First Coin] The Lydian Lion *[http://sodo.cool.ne.jp 中国古銭譜]("Chinese old coins directory", site in Japanese with texts and photos of many Chinese, Japanese, Korean&Vietnamese old coins) *[http://www.cbpmc.com.cn/qbjs/index.jsp 中国造币--钱币鉴赏]("Chinese made coins-seeing coins", site in Simplified Chinese about Chinese coins) *[http://www.greekandromancoins.com/downloads.php Ancient Greek Coins: Free Coin Organizer] *[http://www.buntetsu.net/mbc/coin.html Museum of Bank notes and Coins](in Japanese) [[Category:Coins]] [[Category:Economic history|Coin]] [[pt:História da moeda]]