1.
Numismatics
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Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, and related objects. Early money used by people is referred to as Odd and Curious, the Kyrgyz people used horses as the principal currency unit and gave small change in lambskins, the lambskins may be suitable for numismatic study, but the horse is not. Many objects have been used for centuries, such as shells, precious metals, cocoa beans, large stones. Today, most transactions take place by a form of payment with either inherent, standardized, Numismatic value may be used to refer to the value in excess of the monetary value conferred by law, which is known as the collector value. Economic and historical studies of use and development are an integral part of the numismatists study of moneys physical embodiment. First attested in English 1829, the word comes from the adjective numismatic. It was borrowed in 1792 from French numismatiques, itself a derivation from Late Latin numismatis, genitive of numisma, throughout its history, money itself has been made to be a scarce good, although it does not have to be. Many materials have been used to form money, from naturally scarce precious metals and cowry shells through cigarettes to entirely artificial money, called fiat money, many complementary currencies use time as a unit of measure, using mutual credit accounting that keeps the balance of money intact. Modern money is essentially a token – an abstraction, paper currency is perhaps the most common type of physical money today. However, goods such as gold or silver retain many of the properties of money, such as volatility. However, these goods are not controlled by one single authority, coin collecting may have existed in ancient times. Caesar Augustus gave coins of every device, including old pieces of the kings, petrarch, who wrote in a letter that he was often approached by vinediggers with old coins asking him to buy or to identify the ruler, is credited as the first Renaissance collector. Petrarch presented a collection of Roman coins to Emperor Charles IV in 1355, the first book on coins was De Asse et Partibus by Guillaume Budé. During the early Renaissance ancient coins were collected by European royalty and nobility, Numismatics is called the Hobby of Kings, due to its most esteemed founders. Professional societies organized in the 19th century, the Royal Numismatic Society was founded in 1836 and immediately began publishing the journal that became the Numismatic Chronicle. The American Numismatic Society was founded in 1858 and began publishing the American Journal of Numismatics in 1866, in 1931 the British Academy launched the Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum publishing collections of Ancient Greek coinage. The first volume of Sylloge of Coins of the British Isles was published in 1958, after World War II in Germany a project, Fundmünzen der Antike was launched, to register every coin found within Germany. This idea found successors in many countries, in the United States, the US mint established a coin Cabinet in 1838 when chief coiner Adam Eckfeldt donated his personal collection
2.
Currency
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A currency in the most specific use of the word refers to money in any form when in actual use or circulation as a medium of exchange, especially circulating banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a system of money in common use, under this definition, US dollars, British pounds, Australian dollars, and European euros are examples of currency. These various currencies are recognized stores of value and are traded between nations in exchange markets, which determine the relative values of the different currencies. Currencies in this sense are defined by governments, and each type has limited boundaries of acceptance, other definitions of the term currency are discussed in their respective synonymous articles banknote, coin, and money. The latter definition, pertaining to the systems of nations, is the topic of this article. Currencies can be classified into two systems, fiat money and commodity money, depending on what guarantees the value. Some currencies are legal tender in certain jurisdictions, which means they cannot be refused as payment for debt. Others are simply traded for their economic value, digital currency has arisen with the popularity of computers and the Internet. Currency evolved from two basic innovations, both of which had occurred by 2000 BC, originally money was a form of receipt, representing grain stored in temple granaries in Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia, then Ancient Egypt. In this first stage of currency, metals were used as symbols to represent value stored in the form of commodities and this formed the basis of trade in the Fertile Crescent for over 1500 years. Trade could only reach as far as the credibility of that military and it is not known what was used as a currency for these exchanges, but it is thought that ox-hide shaped ingots of copper, produced in Cyprus, may have functioned as a currency. It is thought that the increase in piracy and raiding associated with the Bronze Age collapse, possibly produced by the Peoples of the Sea, brought the trading system of oxhide ingots to an end. In Africa, many forms of value store have been used, including beads, ingots, ivory, various forms of weapons, livestock, the manilla currency, the manilla rings of West Africa were one of the currencies used from the 15th century onwards to sell slaves. African currency is still notable for its variety, and in many various forms of barter still apply. These factors led to the metal itself being the store of value, first silver, now we have copper coins and other non-precious metals as coins. Metals were mined, weighed, and stamped into coins and this was to assure the individual taking the coin that he was getting a certain known weight of precious metal. Coins could be counterfeited, but they created a new unit of account. Most major economies using coinage had several tiers of coins, using a mix of copper, silver, gold coins were used for large purchases, payment of the military and backing of state activities, they were more often used as measures of account than physical coins
3.
Coin
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A coin is a small, flat, round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by a government, Coins are usually metal or alloy, or sometimes made of synthetic materials. Coins made of metal are stored in large quantities as bullion coins. Other coins are used as money in transactions, circulating alongside banknotes. Usually the highest value coin in circulation is less than the lowest-value note. In the last hundred years, the value of circulation coins has occasionally been lower than the value of the metal they contain. Exceptions to the rule of face value being higher than content value also occur for some bullion coins made of copper, silver, or gold, while the Eagle, Maple Leaf, and Sovereign coins have nominal face values, the Krugerrand does not. The first coins were developed independently in Iron Age Anatolia and Archaic Greece, India, Coins spread rapidly in the 6th and 5th centuries BCE, throughout Greece and Persia, and further to the Balkans. Standardized Roman currency was used throughout the Roman Empire, important Roman gold and silver coins were continued into the Middle Ages. Fiat money first arose in medieval China, with the paper money. Early paper money was introduced in Europe in the later Middle Ages, the penny was minted as a silver coin until the 17th century. The first circulating United States coins were cents, produced in 1793, Coins were an evolution of currency systems of the Late Bronze Age, where standard-sized ingots, and tokens such as knife money, were used to store and transfer value. In the late Chinese Bronze Age, standardized cast tokens were made and these were replicas in bronze of earlier Chinese currency, cowrie shells, so they were named Bronze Shell. According to Aristotle and Pollux, the first issuer of coins was Hermodike of Kyme The earliest coins are associated with Iron Age Anatolia. Early electrum coins were not standardized in weight, and in their earliest stage may have been ritual objects, such as badges or medals, issued by priests. The first Lydian coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring alloy of silver, most of the early Lydian coins include no writing, only an image of a symbolic animal. Anatolian Artemis was the Πὀτνια Θηρῶν, whose symbol was the stag, a small percentage of early Lydian/Greek coins have a legend
4.
Banknote
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A banknote is a type of negotiable instrument known as a promissory note, made by a bank, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued by banks, who were legally required to redeem the notes for legal tender when presented to the chief cashier of the originating bank. These commercial banknotes only traded at face value in the served by the issuing bank. Commercial banknotes have primarily been replaced by national banknotes issued by central banks, national banknotes are generally legal tender, meaning that medium of payment is allowed by law or recognized by a legal system to be valid for meeting a financial obligation. Historically, banks sought to ensure that they could always pay customers in coins when they presented banknotes for payment and this practice of backing notes with something of substance is the basis for the history of central banks backing their currencies in gold or silver. Today, most national currencies have no backing in precious metals or commodities and have value only by fiat, with the exception of non-circulating high-value or precious metal issues, coins are used for lower valued monetary units, while banknotes are used for higher values. The idea of using a durable light-weight substance as evidence of a promise to pay a bearer on demand originated in China during the Han Dynasty in 118 BC, the first known banknote was first developed in China during the Tang and Song dynasties, starting in the 7th century. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty, as merchants, during the Yuan Dynasty, banknotes were adopted by the Mongol Empire. In Europe, the concept of banknotes was first introduced during the 13th century by such as Marco Polo. Counterfeiting, the forgery of banknotes, is an inherent challenge in issuing currency and it is countered by anticounterfeiting measures in the printing of banknotes. Fighting the counterfeiting of banknotes and cheques has been a driver of security printing methods development in recent centuries. Paper currency first developed in the Tang Dynasty China during the 7th century, although true paper money did not appear until the 11th century, the usage of paper currency later spread throughout the Mongol Empire. European explorers like Marco Polo introduced the concept in Europe during the 13th century, napoleon issued paper banknotes in the early 1800s. Paper money originated in two forms, drafts, which are receipts for value held on account, and bills, the perception of banknotes as money has evolved over time. Originally, money was based on precious metals, Banknotes were seen as essentially an I. O. U. or promissory note, a promise to pay someone in precious metal on presentation. With the gradual removal of precious metals from the system, banknotes evolved to represent credit money. Notes or bills were referred to in 18th century novels and were often a key part of the plot such as a note drawn by Lord X for £100 which becomes due in 3 months time. Its roots were in merchant receipts of deposit during the Tang Dynasty, as merchants, before the use of paper, the Chinese used coins that were circular, with a rectangular hole in the middle
5.
Counterfeit money
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Counterfeit money is imitation currency produced without the legal sanction of the state or government. Producing or using counterfeit money is a form of fraud or forgery, counterfeiting is almost as old as money itself. Plated copies have found of Lydian coins which are thought to be among the first western coins. Before the introduction of money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver. A form of counterfeiting is the production of documents by legitimate printers in response to fraudulent instructions, during World War II, the Nazis forged British pounds and American dollars. Today some of the finest counterfeit banknotes are called Superdollars because of their high quality, there has been significant counterfeiting of Euro banknotes and coins since the launch of the currency in 2002, but considerably less than for the US dollar. Traditionally, anti-counterfeiting measures involved including fine detail with raised intaglio printing on bills which allows non-experts to easily spot forgeries, on coins, milled or reeded edges are used to show that none of the valuable metal has been scraped off. Counterfeiting is as old as money itself, and is prevalent throughout history that it has been called the worlds second oldest profession. Coinage of money began in the Greek city of Lydia around 600 B. C, before the introduction of paper money, the most prevalent method of counterfeiting involved mixing base metals with pure gold or silver. A common practice was to shave the edges of a coin, precious metals collected in this way could be used to produce counterfeit coinage. A fourrée is an ancient type of coin, in which a base metal core has been plated with a precious metal to resemble its solid metal counterpart. When paper money was introduced in China in the 13th century, to control access to the paper, guards were stationed around mulberry forests, while counterfeiters were punished by death. In the 13th century Mastro Adamo was mentioned by Dante Alighieri as a counterfeiter of the Florentine fiorino, the English couple Thomas and Anne Rogers were convicted on 15 October 1690 for Clipping 40 pieces of Silver. Thomas Rogers was hanged, drawn and quartered while Anne Rogers was burnt alive, evidence supplied by an informant led to the arrest of the last of the English Coiners King David Hartley, who was executed by hanging in 1770. The extreme forms of punishment were meted out for acts of treason against state or Crown and these include producing the false money and selling it wholesale. Similarly, in America, Colonial paper currency printed by Benjamin Franklin, the theory behind such harsh punishments was that one who had the skills to counterfeit currency was considered a threat to the safety of the State, and had to be eliminated. Far more fortunate was a practitioner of the same art. Rather than executing Alexander the Barber, the Emperor chose to employ his talents in the governments own service, nations have used counterfeiting as a means of warfare
6.
ISO 4217
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The ISO4217 code list is used in banking and business globally. ISO4217 codes are used on tickets and international train tickets to remove any ambiguity about the price. The first two letters of the code are the two letters of the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country codes and the third is usually the initial of the currency itself, so Japans currency code is JPY—JP for Japan and Y for yen. This eliminates the problem caused by the dollar, franc, peso and pound being used in dozens of different countries. Also, if a currency is revalued, the currency codes last letter is changed to distinguish it from the old currency. Other changes can be seen, however, the Russian ruble, for example, changed from RUR to RUB and these currency units are denominated as one troy ounce of the specified metal as opposed to USD1 or EUR1. The code XTS is reserved for use in testing, the code XXX is used to denote a transaction involving no currency. There are also codes specifying certain monetary instruments used in international finance, the codes for most supranational currencies, such as the East Caribbean dollar, the CFP franc, the CFA franc BEAC and the CFA franc BCEAO. The predecessor to the euro, the European Currency Unit, had the code XEU, the use of an initial letter X for these purposes is facilitated by the ISO3166 rule that no official country code beginning with X will ever be assigned. Because of this rule ISO4217 can use X codes without risk of clashing with a country code. ISO3166 country codes beginning with X are used for private custom use, consequently, ISO4217 can use X codes for non-country-specific currencies without risk of clashing with future country codes. The inclusion of EU in the ISO 3166-1 reserved codes list, the ISO4217 standard includes a crude mechanism for expressing the relationship between a major currency unit and its corresponding minor currency unit. This mechanism is called the exponent and assumes a base of 10. For example, USD is equal to 100 of its currency unit the cent. So the USD has exponent 2, the code JPY is given the exponent 0, because its minor unit, the sen, although nominally valued at 1/100 of a yen, is of such negligible value that it is no longer used. Usually, as with the USD, the currency unit has a value that is 1/100 of the major unit, but in some cases 1/1000 is used. Mauritania does not use a decimal division of units, setting 1 ouguiya equal to 5 khoums, some currencies do not have any minor currency unit at all and these are given an exponent of 0, as with currencies whose minor units are unused due to negligible value. There is also a code number assigned to each currency
7.
Local currency
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In economics, a local currency is a currency that can be spent in a particular geographical locality at participating organisations. A regional currency is a form of local currency encompassing a larger geographical area, a local currency acts as a complementary currency to a national currency, rather than replacing it, and aims to encourage spending within a local community, especially with locally-owned businesses. The currency may not be backed by a government or be legal tender. About 300 complementary currencies, including local currencies, are listed in the Complementary Currency Resource Center worldwide database, local currency - a complementary currency used in a locality. Regional currency - a local currency where the locality is a larger region, auxiliary currency, microcurrency, Eco-Money - less common synonyms for community or local currency. Private currency - a currency issued by an individual, business or non-governmental organization, Complementary currencies are a type of private currency. Sectoral currency - a complementary currency used within one economic sector, the Wörgl experiment illustrates some of the common characteristics and major benefits of local currencies. Local currencies with negative interest rate or demurrage tend to much more rapidly than national currencies. The same amount of currency in circulation is employed more times and it produces greater benefit per unit. The higher velocity of money is a result of the negative interest rate which encourages people to spend the more quickly. Local currencies enable the community to fully utilize its existing productive resources, especially unemployed labor. They are based on the premise that the community is not fully utilizing its productive capacities, the alternative currency is utilized to increase demand, resulting in a greater exploitation of productive resources. Since local currencies are accepted within the community, their usage encourages the purchase of locally produced and locally-available goods. Thus, for any level of activity, more of the benefit accrues to the local community. For instance, construction work undertaken with local currencies employs local labor, the enhanced local effect becomes an incentive for the local population to accept and utilize the scrips. Some forms of currency can promote fuller utilization of resources over a much wider geographic area. The Fureai kippu system in Japan issues credits in exchange for assistance to senior citizens, family members living far from their parents can earn credits by offering assistance to the elderly in their local community. The credits can then be transferred to their parents and redeemed by them for local assistance, airline frequent flyer miles are a form of complementary currency that promotes customer-loyalty in exchange for free travel
8.
Company scrip
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Company scrip is scrip issued by a company to pay its employees. It can only be exchanged in company owned by the employers. In the UK, such systems have long been formally outlawed under the Truck Acts. In the United States, mining and logging camps were created, owned and operated by a single company. With this economic monopoly, the employer could place large markups on goods, making workers dependent on the company, in 19th century United States forested areas, cash was often hard to come by. This was particularly true in lumber camps, where workers were paid in company-issued scrip rather than government issued currency. In Wisconsin, for example, forest-products and lumber companies were exempted from the state law requiring employers to pay workers wages in cash. Lumber and timber companies paid their workers in scrip which was redeemable at the company store. Company-run stores served as a convenience for workers and their families, in certain cases, employers included contract provisions requiring employees to patronize the company stores. Employees who wanted to change their scrip to cash generally had to do so at a discount, lumber company scrip was redeemable in lumber as well as other merchandise. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, such an option may have appealed to new settlers in the region, taking some of their wages in lumber may have helped them build a much-needed house or barn. Coal scrip is tokens or paper with a monetary value issued to workers as an advance on wages by the company or its designated representative. As such, coal scrip could only be used at the locality or coal town of the company named. As there were no other retail establishments, this constituted a monopoly, the country musician Merle Travis makes a reference to coal scrip in the song, Sixteen Tons on the Folk Songs of the Hills album. The practice has been documented as recently as September,2008, Truck system Private currency Disney dollar Harte, C. J. Coal mine scrip collectors to meet, cawood, Steve, past president National Scrip Collectors AssociationScrip Definition
9.
Local exchange trading system
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LETS allow people to negotiate the value of their own hours or services. Michael Linton originated the term Local Exchange Trading System in 1983 and for a time ran the Comox Valley LETSystems in Courtenay, the system he designed was intended as an adjunct to the national currency, rather than a replacement for it. LETS networks facilitate exchange between members by providing a directory of offers and by allowing a line of credit to each. Members IOUs are logged in an accounting system which publishes a directory. In case of a default, the loss of value or units is absorbed equally by all members, which makes it a mutual credit exchange. For instance, a member may earn credit by doing childcare for one person and spend it later on carpentry with another person in the network, or they may spend first. Many people have difficulty adjusting to different kind of money system. A conventional national currency which yields interest to savers and costs interest to borrowers incentivises different behaviours to mutual credit which has no commodity value, most groups range from 50-150 members with a small core who use the system as a way of life. After flourishing in the 1990s, the LETS movement is now populated by the same aging people. Interest in local currency has moved on to other such as Time-based currency. In many countries apart from Canada, USA and UK, the distinction between LETS and timebanking is much less clear, as most LETS now use time as their unit of account. On the whole, the movement has been slow to adapt to the internet, reluctance to engage with technology, a belief in decentralisation/localisation and lack of funds all contributed to this. Michael Linton has stated that such systems are personal money networks rather than LETS, the first LETS required nothing more than a telephone, an answering machine and a notebook. Since then there have been attempts to improve the process with software, printed notes. Members whose balances exceed specified limits are obliged to move their balance back towards zero by spending or earning, LETS is a full-fledged monetary or exchange system, unlike direct barter. LETS members are able to earn credits from any member and spend them with anyone else on the scheme, since the details are worked out by the users, there is much variation between schemes. In a number of countries, various government taxation authorities have examined LETS along with forms of counter trade. Generally for personal arrangements, social arrangements, hobbies or pastimes and this generally covers the vast majority of LETS transactions
10.
Time-based currency
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In economics, a time-based currency is an alternative currency or exchange system where the unit of account/value is the person-hour or some other time unit. Some time-based currencies value everyone’s contributions equally, one hour equals one service credit. In these systems, one person volunteers to work for an hour for another person, thus, they are credited with one hour, others use time units that might be fractions of an hour. Time-based currency exchanges date back to the early 19th century, the National Equitable Labour Exchange was founded by Robert Owen, a Welsh socialist and labor reformer in London, England, in 1832. It was established in Birmingham, England, before folding in 1834 and it issued Labour Notes similar to banknotes, denominated in units of 1,2,5,10,20,40, and 80 hours. John Gray, a socialist economist, worked with Owen and later with Ricardian Socialists, in 1848, the socialist and first self-designated anarchist Pierre-Joseph Proudhon postulated a system of time chits. Josiah Warren published a book describing labor notes in 1852 and he also went on to trademark the terms Time Bank and Time Credit. Time banking is a community development tool and works by facilitating the exchange of skills and it aims to build the core economy of family and community by valuing and rewarding the work done in it. The worlds first time bank was started in Japan by Teruko Mizushima in 1973 with the idea that participants could earn credits which they could spend any time during their lives. In the 1940s, Mizushima had already foreseen the emerging problems of a society such as seen today. In the 1990s the movement took off in the USA, with Dr Edgar Cahn pioneering it there, piecemeal efforts to rebuild genuine community. In particular Cahn focused on the top-down attitude prevalent in social services and he believed that one of the major failings of many social service organizations was their unwillingness to enroll the help of those people they were trying to help. He theorized that a system like time banking could the infrastructure of trust, Time Bank members sometimes refer to this as a return to simpler times when the community was there for its individuals. An interview at a bank in the Gorbals neighbourhood of Glasgow revealed the following sentiment. The Gorbals has never — not for a long time — had a lot of community spirit. Way back, years ago, it had a lot of community spirit, thats what I think the projects doing, trying to bring that back, that community sense. Time dollars are a complementary currency used as a means of providing mutual credit in Time Banking. They are typically called time credits or service credits outside the United States, Time Bank members exchange services for Time Dollars
11.
Ancient Greek coinage
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The history of Ancient Greek coinage can be divided into four periods, the Archaic, the Classical, the Hellenistic and the Roman. The Archaic period extends from the introduction of coinage to the Greek world during the 7th century BC until the Persian Wars in about 480 BC, the Greek cities continued to produce their own coins for several more centuries under Roman rule. The coins produced during this period are called Roman provincial coins or Greek Imperial Coins, the word drachm means a handful, literally a grasp. Drachmae were divided into six obols, and six spits made a handful and this suggests that before coinage came to be used in Greece, spits in prehistoric times were used as measures in daily transactions. Because of this aspect, Spartan legislation famously forbade issuance of Spartan coin, and enforced the continued use of iron spits so as to discourage avarice. In addition to its meaning, the word obol was retained as a Greek word for coins of small value. The obol was further subdivided into tetartemorioi which represented 1/4 of an obol and this coin is mentioned by Aristotle as the smallest silver coin. Various multiples of this denomination were also struck, including the trihemitetartemorion valued at 3/8 of an obol and these coins were made of electrum, an alloy of gold and silver that was highly prized and abundant in that area. By the middle of the 6th century BC, technology had advanced, making the production of pure gold, accordingly, King Croesus introduced a bi-metallic standard that allowed for coins of pure gold and pure silver to be struck and traded in the marketplace. The Greek world was divided more than two thousand self-governing city-states, and more than half of them issued their own coins. As such coins circulated widely, other cities began to mint coins to this Aeginetan weight standard of. Athenian coins, however, were struck on the Attic standard, over time, Athens plentiful supply of silver from the mines at Laurion and its increasing dominance in trade made this the pre-eminent standard. These coins, known as owls because of their central design feature, were minted to an extremely tight standard of purity. This contributed to their success as the premier trade coin of their era, tetradrachms on this weight standard continued to be a widely used coin through the classical period. By the time of Alexander the Great and his Hellenistic successors, the Classical period saw Greek coinage reach a high level of technical and aesthetic quality. Larger cities now produced a range of silver and gold coins, most bearing a portrait of their patron god or goddess or a legendary hero on one side. Some coins employed a visual pun, some coins from Rhodes featured a rose, the use of inscriptions on coins also began, usually the name of the issuing city. The wealthy cities of Sicily produced some especially fine coins, the large silver decadrachm coin from Syracuse is regarded by many collectors as the finest coin produced in the ancient world, perhaps ever
12.
Roman currency
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Roman currency for most of Roman history consisted of gold, silver, bronze, orichalcum and copper coinage. From its introduction to the Republic, during the third century BC, well into Imperial times, Roman currency saw many changes in form, denomination, a persistent feature was the inflationary debasement and replacement of coins over the centuries. Notable examples of this followed the reforms of Diocletian and this trend continued into Byzantine times. The manufacture of coins in the Roman culture, dating from about the 4th century BC, the origin of the word mint is ascribed to the manufacture of silver coin at Rome in 269 BC at the temple of Juno Moneta. This goddess became the personification of money, and her name was applied both to money and to its place of manufacture, Roman mints were spread widely across the Empire, and were sometimes used for propaganda purposes. The populace often learned of a new Roman Emperor when coins appeared with the new Emperors portrait. The Romans cast their larger copper coins in clay moulds carrying distinctive markings, not because they knew nothing of striking, Roman adoption of metallic commodity money was a late development in monetary history. Bullion bars and ingots were used as money in Mesopotamia since the 7th millennium BC, coinage proper was only introduced by the Roman Republican government c.300 BC. For these reasons, the Romans would have known about coinage systems long before their government actually introduced them. The reason behind Romes adoption of coinage was likely cultural, the Romans had no pressing economic need, but they wanted to emulate Greek culture, and they considered the institution of minted money a significant feature of that culture. However, Roman coinage initially saw limited use. The type of money introduced by Rome was unlike that found elsewhere in the ancient Mediterranean and it combined a number of uncommon elements. One example is the large bronze bullion, the aes signatum and it measured about 160 by 90 millimetres and weighed around 1,500 to 1,600 grams, being made out of a highly leaded tin bronze. Although similar metal bars had been produced in Italy and northern Etruscan areas, these had been made of Aes grave. Along with the aes signatum, the Roman state also issued a series of bronze, produced using the manner of manufacture then utilised in Greek Naples, the designs of these early coins were also heavily influenced by Hellenic designs. The designs on the coinage of the Republican period displayed a solid conservatism, usually illustrating mythical scenes or personifications of various gods, in 27 BC, the Roman Republic came to an end as Augustus ascended to the throne as the first emperor. Taking autocratic power, it became recognized that there was a link between the emperors sovereignty and the production of coinage. The imagery on coins took an important step when Julius Caesar issued coins bearing his own portrait, while moneyers had earlier issued coins with portraits of ancestors, Caesars was the first Roman coinage to feature the portrait of a living individual
13.
Ancient Chinese coinage
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Ancient Chinese coinage includes some of the earliest known coins. These coins, used as early as the Spring and Autumn period, the Spring and Autumn period also saw the introduction of the first metal coins, however, they were not initially round, instead being either knife shaped or spade shaped. Round metal coins with a round, and then later square hole in the center were first introduced around 350 BCE, the beginning of the Qin Dynasty, the first dynasty to unify China, saw the introduction of a standardised coinage for the whole Empire. Subsequent dynasties produced variations on these round coins throughout the imperial period, ancient Chinese coins are markedly different from coins produced in the west. Chinese coins were manufactured by being cast in molds, whereas western coins were cut and hammered or, in later times. Chinese coins were made from mixtures of metals such copper, tin and lead, from bronze, brass or iron, precious metals like gold. The ratios and purity of the coin metals varied considerably, most Chinese coins were produced with a square hole in the middle. This was used to allow collections of coins to be threaded on a rod so that the rough edges could be filed smooth. Official coin production was not always centralised, but could be spread over many mint locations throughout the country, aside from officially produced coins, private coining was common during many stages of history. Various steps were taken over time to try to combat the private coining and limit its effects, at other times private coining was tolerated. The coins varied in value throughout the history, some coins were produced in very large numbers – during the Western Han, an average of 220 million coins a year were produced. Other coins were of limited circulation and are extremely rare – only six examples of Da Quan Wu Qian from the Eastern Wu Dynasty are known to exist. Occasionally, large hoards of coins have been uncovered, the earliest coinage of China was described by Sima Qian, the great historian of c. While nothing is known about the use of shells as money, gold. They are not found in hoards, and the probability is that all these are in fact funerary items. Archaeological evidence shows that the earliest use of the spade and knife money was in the Spring, as in ancient Greece, socio-economic conditions at the time were favourable to the adoption of coinage. Inscriptions and archaeological evidence shows that cowrie shells were regarded as important objects of value in the Shang Dynasty, in the Zhou period, they are frequently referred to as gifts or rewards from kings and nobles to their subjects. Later imitations in bone, stone or bronze were used as money in some instances
14.
Coinage of India
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Coins provide not only evidence of art and economy, but also a wisdom for understanding the history and politics of a nation. As a means of communication, they speak to the political, Coinage of India, issued by Imperial dynasties and Middle kingdoms began anywhere between 6th century BCE to 1st millennium BCE, and consisted mainly of copper and silver coins in its initial stage. Scholars remain divided over the origins of Indian coinage, cowry shells was first used in India as commodity money. In recent discoveries punched mark Mudras of stone have been found in lost city of Dwaraka, which is said to be existed at least 5,000 years ago. The Indus Valley Civilisation dates back between 2500 BC and 1750 BC, what is known, however, is that metal currency was minted in India well before the Mauryan Empire, and as radio carbon dating indicates, before the 5th century BCE. The practice of minted coins spread to the Indo-Gangetic Plain from West Asia, the coins of this period were called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana. Mahajanapadas that minted their own coins included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Panchala, Shakya, Surasena, the tradition of Indian coinage was further influenced by the coming of Turkic and Mughal invaders in India. The East India Company introduced uniform coinage in the 19th century CE, and these coins were imitated by the modern nation states of Republic of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Numismatics plays a role in determining certain period of Indian history. Punch-marked coins are a type of early Coinage of India, dating to between about the 6th and 2nd centuries BC. The first coins in India were minted around the 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the coins of this period were punch-marked coins called Puranas, Karshapanas or Pana. Several of these coins had a symbol, for example, Saurashtra had a humped bull. These coins were made of silver of a weight but with an irregular shape. This was gained by cutting up silver bars and then making the weight by cutting the edges of the coin. They are mentioned in the Manu, Panini, and Buddhist Jataka stories, shurasena Surashtra Early coins of India were made of silver and copper, and bore animal and plant symbols on them. The Mauryan coins were marked with the royal standard to ascertain their authenticity. The Arthashastra, written by Kautilya, mentions minting of coins, Kautilya also seemed to advocate a theory of bimetallism for coinage, which involved the use of two metals, copper and silver, under one government. Punch marked coins were replaced at the fall of the Maurya Empire by cast, each individual coins was first cast by pouring a molten metal, usually copper or silver, into a cavity formed by two molds
15.
Achaemenid coinage
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Coins of the Achaemenid Empire were issued from 520 BCE-450 BCE to 330 BCE. It seems that before then, a continuation of Lydian coinage under Persian rule was highly likely, Achaemenid coinage includes the official imperial issues, as well as coins issued by the Achaemenid governors, such as those stationed in ancient Asia Minor. Darius first introduced a currency system at about 520-480, the precise period is debatable. The rate of exchange was 1 Daric =20 Siglos and it consisted of a Daric of between 8. 10-8.50 grams in weight and based on the Babylonian shekel of 8.33 grams. The purity was between 98-99% gold, after the capture of Babylon by Alexander, the Satrap Mazaeus issued the double Daric of 16.65 grams in weight whose image was based on the Daric coin and bore his name until his death in 328 BCE. 1 Daric =25 Attic Drachmae, Siglos is 5. 40-5.60 grams each, but is based on the 0.5 Lydian Siglos of 10. 73-10.92 grams for the full unit. Purity was at first issue 97-98% but by the middle 4th century was 94-95%,1 Siglos =7.5 Attic Obols Daric coins have been found in Asia Minor, Greece, Macedonia and Italy
16.
Historical money of Tibet
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The use of historical money in Tibet started in ancient times, when Tibet had no coined currency of its own. Bartering was common, gold was a medium of exchange, and shell money, a few coins from other countries were also occasionally in use. Coins were first used in an extensive way in the 17th century. There were however various difficulties with this system, in 1763/64 and 1785 the first silver coins were struck in Tibet. In 1792 the first mass-produced silver coins were created under joint Chinese, coins bearing Tibetan inscriptions only were subsequently replaced by issues which had Chinese and Tibetan legends. In 1840 purely Tibetan coinage was struck under Tibetan authority, in 1910 the Tibetan government started producing a large range of copper and silver coins of different denominations, and in 1918 to 1921, gold coins were struck. Tibetan banknotes were first issued in 1913, from 1955 to 1959 no more Tibetan coins were created, although banknotes were still being printed, and by 1959 all of the money was gradually being replaced with renminbi yuan. In ancient Tibet, the use of coins was insignificant, tibet’s main neighbours, India, Nepal and China had had their own coinage since time immemorial. Tibet had the biggest trade volume with China, the main items being horses from north-eastern Tibet. Tibet also exported medicinal herbs, stag antlers, musk and gold to China, and apart from tea, the trade volume with Tibets southern neighbours, India, Nepal and Bhutan, was much smaller. The Tibetan traders mainly exchanged salt and wool for grain with these countries, traditionally one measure of salt was traded for one measure of grain at the border with Nepal and India. Other, less important export goods were yak tails, musk, for the 17th century, the export of falcons to India is also recorded. For large transactions within Tibet, gold dust and Chinese silver ingots were used and these ingots came in different shapes, the most common kind resembled horseshoes or donkey shoes, and were named rta rmig ma in Tibetan. For small transactions, various consumer goods could be used, among others, these were areca nuts, tobacco, ceremonial scarves and tea Tea was usually traded in the form of tea bricks. This developed into the most important medium of exchange in the 19th century, so far there exists no consent whether these pieces could be regarded as coins. The officials had to convert these into the current monetary standard, lastly a form of gold currency named Sertam is mentioned which had a gold weight of 2 sewas. Fifteen Sertam corresponded to one standard Changsho, the currency unit Gursho was already mentioned by Sarat Chandra Das in his Tibetan-English Dictionary. According to this author 1 Gursho =24 sewas, Chinese silver ingots were used until the 20th century for larger transactions
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History of Thai money
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For Thai people, money was considered as the symbol of civilization. Money itself, reflected belief, faith in religion, culture, customs and traditions of each era and also act as a significant record in the development, the land which is now Thailand was once inhabited by various pre-historic communities. Therefore, these groups of people left a heritage of social culture, in the ancient days of Thai society, before money was created to serve as a medium of exchange, humans traded goods by bartering for products of similar value. However, many products differed in quality, and buyers and sellers differed in their assessments of value, to facilitate product sales, several mutually-agreed commodities came into use as mediums for exchange. The Indo-China Peninsula or “Suvarnabhumi” which means “Golden Peninsula” was the area on which Thailand is presently situated. These ancient kingdoms were a homeland for a variety of diverse races and tribes. They were the regions that were later on known as the Funan Kingdom, Dvaravati Kingdom, Srivijaya Kingdom and they used money as a “medium of exchange” which evolved into different forms of money. Funan was the most important region of Indo–China and became successful in trade during the 1st through 6th centuries. The Funan Kingdom was influenced by India, through trading and religion, the coinage used during that period bears marks symbolizing the monarchy and the religion, these were mostly flat and round coins made from silver. These coins display, on one side, a sun spreading rays between two rows of fish eggs. At the top of each coin the sign of the sun, with the decline of the Funan Kingdom, several kingdoms declared their freedom and independence. They alternated at being the dominant power in the area, including, the regions around the central Chao Phya River basin such as Nakhon Pathom, Rajburi, Supanburi etc. They had become the important cities and formed themselves into the kingdom known as the Kingdom of Dvaravati in the 6th century AD. The Dvaravati Kingdom produced many types of coins as a medium in trade and they revealed, through the designs on the coins, symbols of monarchy and the power of the state, the beliefs of Buddhism and the Bhramin religion. Samples are coins inscribed with the conch, the small conch, the rabbit on a lily leaf. On the reverse side is the Sriwatsa symbol flanked by mohout’s hooks, with the sun and moon on the top, in addition, there are flat coins on one side. On some of these coins appeared the features of Buranaklod, the Dhama wheel, on the reverse side of the coins are the ancient Sanskrit script. Around the 8th century, the Srivijaya Kingdom was “The land of Sea-faring Traders”, merchant ships stopped to seek shelter from the southern monsoons of the Malaysian Peninsula
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Mint (facility)
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A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins that can be used in currency. The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins, in the beginning, hammered coinage or cast coinage were the chief means of coin minting, with resulting production runs numbering as little as the hundreds or thousands. In modern mints, coin dies are manufactured in large numbers, with the mass production of currency, the production cost is weighed when minting coins. For example, it costs the United States Mint much less than 25 cents to make a quarter, metals were well suited to represent wealth, owing to their great intrinsic value and their durability, divisibility and rarity. The first mint was established in Lydia in the 7th century BC, for coining gold, silver. The Lydian innovation of manufacturing coins under the authority of the spread to neighboring Greece. Some of the earliest Greek mints were within city-states on Greek islands such as Crete, at about the same time, coins and mints appeared independently in China and spread to Korea and Japan. The manufacture of coins in the Roman Empire, dating from about the 4th century BC, the origin of the word mint is ascribed to the manufacture of silver coin at Rome in 269 BC at the temple of Juno Moneta. This goddess became the personification of money, and her name was applied both to money and to its place of manufacture, Roman mints were spread widely across the Empire, and were sometimes used for propaganda purposes. The populace often learned of a new Roman Emperor when coins appeared with the new Emperors portrait, Ancient coins were made by casting in moulds or by striking between engraved dies. The Romans cast their larger copper coins in clay moulds carrying distinctive markings, not because they knew nothing of striking, casting is now used only by counterfeiters. The most ancient coins were cast in bulletshaped or conical moulds, the blank or unmarked piece of metal was placed on a small anvil, and the die was held in position with tongs. The reverse or lower side of the received a rectangular mark made by the sharp edges of the little anvil. Subsequently the anvil was marked in ways, and decorated with letters and figures of beasts. The spherical blanks soon gave place to lenticular-shaped ones, the blank was made red-hot and struck between cold dies. One blow was usually insufficient, and the method was similar to that used in striking medals in high relief. With the substitution of iron for bronze as the material for dies, about 300 AD, in the Middle Ages bars of metal were cast and hammered out on an anvil. Portions of the sheets were then cut out with shears
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Coining (mint)
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In minting, coining or coinage is the process of manufacturing coins using a kind of stamping which is now generically known in metalworking as coining. This process is different from cast coinage, and can be classified in hammered coinage or hammering, a coin die is one of the two metallic pieces that are used to strike a coin, one per each side of the coin. A die contains a version of the image to be struck on the coin. Modern dies made out of hardened steel are capable of producing hundreds of thousands of coins before they are retired and defaced. Prior to the era, coin dies were manufactured individually by hand by artisans known as engravers. In demanding times, such as the crisis of the Roman Empire in the 3rd century, the die that was on the hammer side, usually the reverse, tended to wear out first. The planchets were usually hot prior to striking, on some Roman provincial coins, some believe the tongs used to move the heated planchet left permanent center indentations on the finished coins. Others attribute these marks to surfacing tools used as a part of planchet preparation, experimental archeology suggests that a lower die could be expected to last for up to 10,000 strikes depending on the level of wear deemed acceptable. Upper dies seem to have a far greater range of lives with usable lives ranging from just over 100 strikes to nearly 8000 being reported, combining archaeological evidence with historic records suggests ancient coin producers could get as many as 47,000 strikes out of an individual die. Medieval engravers were guild members who created coins, the vast majority of medieval coins were cold struck, the planchets were not heated. While medieval coin dies were made of iron, some dies have been discovered with a small region at the face of the die which is made of steel. As technology and the economy changed over the course of the Middle Ages, while most ancient coin dies used engraving very heavily, early medieval coinage was dominated by dies created mostly from punches, which displace the metal of the die instead of removing it. There is evidence of medieval die cutters using engraving tools to lay out designs, however, engraving on the face of the die did not become commonplace until the early Renaissance. Very detailed records exist for the Venetian mint, in the late Middle Ages, the dies used to create tornesellos lasted as follows, hammer die, ~17,000 strikes, anvil die,36,000 strikes. The mint made an average of 20,000 coins per day, so they were making one hammer die a day, the hammer dies wore out quicker because they tended to be smaller and were hit directly with a hammer, leading to severe mushrooming on the tops. First, an artist creates a large model of the coin. The plaster model is then coated with rubber, the rubber mold is then used to make an epoxy galvano. All of this place on a scale of around eight inches
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Hammered coinage
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Hammered coins were produced by placing a blank piece of metal of the correct weight between two dies, and then striking the upper die with a hammer to produce the required image on both sides. The planchet was usually cast from a mold, the bottom die was usually counter sunk in a log or other sturdy surface and was called a pile. One of the held the die for the other side. Experimental archeology suggests that a lower die could be expected to last for up to 10,000 strikes depending on the level of wear deemed acceptable. Upper dies seem to have a far greater range of lives with usable lives ranging from just over 100 strikes to nearly 8000 being reported, combining archaeological evidence with historic records suggests ancient coin producers could get as many as 47,000 strikes out of an individual die. In later history, in order to increase the production of coins, hammered coins were produced from strips of metal of the correct thickness. Both methods of producing hammered coins meant that it was difficult to produce coins of a regular diameter, coins were liable to suffer from clipping where unscrupulous people would remove slivers of precious metal since it was difficult to determine the correct diameter of the coin. Coins were also vulnerable to sweating, which is silver coins would be placed in a bag that would be vigorously shaken. This would produce silver dust, which could later be removed from the bag, the ability to fashion coins from machines caused hammered coins to become gradually obsolete during the 17th century. They were still made in Venice until the 1770s, france became the first country to adopt a full machine-made coin in 1643. An alternative method of producing early coins, particularly found in Asia and this method of coin production continued in China into the nineteenth century. Up to a couple of coins could be produced at one time from a single mold, when a tree of coins would be produced
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Cast coinage
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Cast coinage refers to coins made by pouring melted metal into a mold, i. e. casting. It has been used for coins, particularly in the Far East. The method differs from the current mode of production, which is done by striking coin blanks that have been cut out of metal sheets. The method has also used by forgers. Traditional Far Eastern cast coins—so-called cash coins—are the most famous example of cast coinage, and were issued from the 4th century BC until circa 1912, predominantly in bronze, brass or iron. Traditional Far Eastern coins were generally cast base metal coins, although silver and gold bars were manufactured, e. g. Chinese sycee, Japanese obans and kobans. Cast potins circulated in Kent from around 100 BC to around 50 BC, at a point during the first century of the Christian era, cast bronze coins were produced in Dorset with archaeological evidence pointing towards Hengistbury Head as the source. By AD200, cast copies of silver denarii were being produced in a number of areas of Britain, while these may have been straightforward forgeries the context in which some of the moulds have been found suggest there may have been at least some elements of semi officialdom
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Exonumia
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Exonumia are numismatic items other than coins and paper money. This includes Good For tokens, badges, counterstamped coins, elongated coins, encased coins, souvenir medallions, tags, wooden nickels and it is related to numismatics, and many coin collectors are also exonumists. Besides the above definition, others extend it to include non-coins which may or may not be legal tenders such as cheques, credit cards. These can also be considered notaphily or scripophily, the noun exonumia is derived from two classical roots, exo, meaning out-of in Greek, and nummus, meaning coin in Latin, thus, out-of-coins. Usually, the term exonumia is applied to objects in the United States. The words exonumist and exonumia were coined in July 1960 by Russell Rulau, an authority and author on the subject. Chronologically, in the United States many Exonumia items were used as currency when actual money was not easily available in the economy, a notable exception to this definition are Medals, which were generally not used as currency or exchange. See the for clarification section below for distinctions between various branches of exonumia, Tokens were used both to advertise and to facilitate commerce. Token authority Russell Rulau offers a definition for exonumia. For example, an advertising token may also be considered a medal, Good For tokens may also advertise. Counterstamped coins have been called “little billboards. ”Strictly, exonumia is anything not a governmental issue coin and this could almost mean anything coin-like. The English term Para-numismatica, or alongside currency, appears more limiting, hinting that tokens must have some sort of “value” or monetary usage, one definition of Para-numismatica is anything coin-like but not a coin. In America this is not the accepted usage, rulaus 1040 page tome, UNITED STATES TOKENS, 1700-1900 includes many tokens without any monetary value depicted on the token. While he included many items, some types of exonumia were not included just so the book would not get any bigger, the following groupings of categories are continually expanding. One way of parsing tokens is into three general categories, Has a ‘value, ’ facilitating commerce, such as Good For Something. Commemoration, remembrance, dedication, or the like, for person, place. Typically catalogs of tokens are organized by location, time period and/or type of item, historically the need for tokens grew out of the need for currency. In America some tokens legally circulated alongside or instead of currency up until recently, hard Times Tokens and Civil War Tokens each were the size of the contemporary cent
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Credit card
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The card issuer creates a revolving account and grants a line of credit to the cardholder, from which the cardholder can borrow money for payment to a merchant or as a cash advance. A credit card is different from a card, where it requires the balance to be repaid in full each month. In contrast, credit cards allow the consumers a continuing balance of debt, a credit card also differs from a cash card, which can be used like currency by the owner of the card. Credit cards have a printed or embossed bank card number complying with the ISO/IEC7812 numbering standard, the card numbers prefix, called the Bank Identification Number, is the sequence of digits at the beginning of the number that determine the bank to which a credit card number belongs. This is the first six digits for MasterCard and Visa cards, the next nine digits are the individual account number, and the final digit is a validity check code. Both of these standards are maintained and further developed by ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 17/WG1, Credit cards have a magnetic stripe conforming to the ISO/IEC7813. Many modern credit cards have a chip embedded in them as a security feature. In addition to the credit card number, credit cards also carry issue and expiration dates, as well as extra codes such as issue numbers. Not all credit cards have the sets of extra codes nor do they use the same number of digits. The concept of using a card for purchases was described in 1887 by Edward Bellamy in his utopian novel Looking Backward. Bellamy used the credit card eleven times in this novel, although this referred to a card for spending a citizens dividend from the government. Charge coins and other items were used from the late 19th century to the 1930s. They came in various shapes and sizes, with materials made out of celluloid, copper, aluminum, steel, each charge coin usually had a little hole, enabling it to be put in a key ring, like a key. These charge coins were given to customers who had charge accounts in department stores, hotels. A charge coin usually had the account number along with the merchants name. The charge coin offered a simple and fast way to copy a charge account number to the sales slip and this sped the process of copying, previously done by handwriting. It also reduced the number of errors, by having a form of numbers on the sales slip. Because the customers name was not on the coin, almost anyone could use it
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Medal
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A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for sporting, military, scientific, academic, or various other achievements. Military awards and decorations are more precise terms for types of state decoration. Medals may also be created for sale to commemorate particular individuals or events, an artist who creates medals or medallions is called a medallist or medalist. There are also devotional medals which may be worn for religious reasons, Medals have long been popular collectible items either as a variety of exonumia or of militaria. Medallions may also be called table medals because they are too large to be worn and can only be displayed on a wall, table top, desk, the word medallion has the same ultimate derivation, but this time through the Italian medaglione, meaning large medal. The main or front surface of a medal is termed the obverse, the reverse, or back surface of the medal, is not always used and may be left blank or may contain a secondary design. It is not uncommon to only an artistic rendering on the obverse, while all details. The rim is only occasionally employed to display an inscription such as a motto, privy mark, engraver symbol, assayer’s marking. Medals that are intended to be hung from a ribbon also include a suspension piece at the crest with which to loop a suspension ring through. It is through the ring that a ribbon is run or folded so the medal may hang pendent, Medals pinned to the breast use only a small cut of ribbon that is attached to a top bar where the brooch pin is affixed. Top bars may be hidden under the ribbon so they are not visible, be a device from which the ribbon attaches. Some top bars are elaborate and contain a whole design unto themselves, Medals that are made with inexpensive material might be gilded, silver-plated, chased, or finished in a variety of other ways to improve their appearance. Medals have also made of rock, gemstone, ivory, glass, porcelain, terra cotta, coal, wood, paper, enamel, lacquerware. Honorary awards, as a button, which it is custom to give the kings kinsmen. Roman emperors used both military awards of medals, and political gifts of medallions that were very large coins, usually in gold or silver. Both these and actual golden coins were often set as pieces of jewellery, the bracteate is a type of thin gold medal, usually plain on the reverse, found in Northern Europe from the so-called Dark Ages or Migration Period. They often have suspension loops and were intended to be worn on a chain as jewellery. They imitate, at a distance, Roman imperial coins and medallions, the surviving example is mounted for wearing as jewellery
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Token coin
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In the study of numismatics, token coins or trade tokens are coin-like objects used instead of coins. The field of tokens is part of exonumia and token coins are token money, Tokens either have a denomination shown or implied by size, color or shape. Tokens are often made of metals, copper, pewter, aluminium, brass and tin were commonly used, while bakelite, leather, porcelain. In the case of currency issued by a company but also recognized by the state there is a convergence between tokens and currency. In their purest form, currency tokens issued by a crossed the boundary of merely being trade tokens when they were sanctioned by the local government authority. This was sometimes a measure resulting from a shortage of money or the governments inability to issue its own coinage. In effect, the organization behind the tokens became the regional bank, a classic example of this is the Strachan and Co trade tokens of East Griqualand in South Africa which were used as currency by the indigenous people in the region from 1874. Their initial success resulted from the scarcity of small change in this region from that time. Similarly, in times of inflation, tokens have sometimes taken on a currency role. An example of this is Italian or Israeli telephone tokens, which were good for the same service even as prices increased. New York City Subway tokens were also accepted sometimes in trade, or even in parking meters, coin-like objects from the Roman Empire called spintria have been interpreted as a form of early tokens. Their functions are not known from history, but they appear to have been brothel tokens or possibly gaming tokens. Medieval English monasteries issued tokens to pay for services from outsiders and these tokens circulated in nearby villages where they were called Abbots money. Also, counters called jetons were used as small change without official blessing, the token was in effect a pledge redeemable in goods but not necessarily for currency. These tokens never received official sanction from government but were accepted and circulated quite widely and this shortage was felt more keenly because of the rapid growth of trade in the towns and cities, and this in turn prompted both local authorities and merchants to issue tokens. These tokens were most commonly made of copper or brass, but pewter, lead, most were not given a specific denomination and were intended to pass as farthings, but there are also a large number of halfpenny and sometimes penny tokens. Halfpenny and penny tokens usually, but not always, bear the denomination on their face, most such tokens indicate the name of their issuer, which might either be his or her full name or initials. Where initials were provided, it was practice to provide three—one for the surname
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Cheque
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A cheque or check is a document that orders a bank to pay a specific amount of money from a persons account to the person in whose name the cheque has been issued. The person writing the cheque, the drawer, has a banking account where their money is held. Cheques are a type of bill of exchange and were developed as a way to make payments without the need to carry large amounts of money, both the drawer and payee may be natural persons or legal entities. Cheques are order instruments, and are not in general payable simply to the bearer as bearer instruments are, in some countries, such as the US, the payee may endorse the cheque, allowing them to specify a third party to whom it should be paid. By the second half of the 20th century, as cheque processing became automated, billions of cheques were issued annually, since then cheque usage has fallen, being partly replaced by electronic payment systems. In an increasing number of countries cheques have either become a marginal payment system or have been phased out. The spellings check, checque, and cheque were used interchangeably from the 17th century until the 20th century, in American English, the usual spelling for both is check. The cheque had its origins in the ancient banking system, in which bankers would issue orders at the request of their customers, such an order was referred to as a bill of exchange. The use of bills of exchange facilitated trade by eliminating the need for merchants to carry large quantities of currency to purchase goods, the ancient Romans are believed to have used an early form of cheque known as praescriptiones in the 1st century BC. Muslim traders are known to have used the cheque or ṣakk system since the time of Harun al-Rashid of the Abbasid Caliphate, transporting a paper saqq was more secure than transporting money. In the 9th century, a merchant in country A could cash a saqq drawn on his bank in country B. In the 13th century in Venice the bill of exchange was developed as a device to allow international trade without the need to carry large amounts of gold. Their use subsequently spread to other European countries, in the early 1500s in the Dutch Republic, to protect large accumulations of cash, people began depositing their money with cashiers. These cashiers held the money for a fee, competition drove cashiers to offer additional services including paying money to any person bearing a written order from a depositor to do so. They kept the note as proof of payment and this concept went on to spread to England and elsewhere. By the 17th century, bills of exchange were being used for payments in England. Cheques, a type of bill of exchange, then began to evolve, initially they were called drawn notes, because they enabled a customer to draw on the funds that he or she had in the account with a bank and required immediate payment. These were handwritten, and one of the earliest known still to be in existence was drawn on Messrs Morris and Clayton, scriveners and bankers based in the City of London, in 1717, the Bank of England pioneered the first use of a pre-printed form
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Notaphily
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Notaphily is the study and collection of paper currency, and banknotes. A notaphilist is a collector of banknotes or paper money, particularly as a hobby and it is believed that people have been collecting paper money for as long as it has been in use. While people began collecting paper currency more systematically in the 1940s, the term was devised in this decade by a group of employees working for the collectors and investments firm Stanley Gibbons, in a successful attempt to formalise and encourage interest in the area. In 1961, The International Bank Note Society, was formed as an association of banknote collectors. Nowadays it has thousands of members from around the world, the IBNS publishes the quarterly IBNS Journal, holds regular mail bid auctions, and promotes lectures at congresses. Almost every note of every country and many special and regional issues are cataloged following a format for each entry. An important aspect of collecting banknotes is the condition of items, banknotes in perfect condition, that usually havent circulated are rated as uncirculated and that is the highest classification for a value that a banknote can have. In addition to that, the value for a note in the world paper money catalog is listed for UNC condition. Banknotes are usually graded on a scale of grades. These grades vary somewhat internationally, and as time goes on more grades have been added. e, a light center fold, without rounded corners. Extremely fine - a banknote with one crease or up to three light folds, Paper still bright and attractive, very slight wear to corners allowed. Very Fine - Note still attractive, but possible slight dirt or smudging, no tears, but slight wear to edges and corners is allowable. Fine - Paper is now slightly soft, considerable wear due to folds from use in circulation, minor tears to note, not extending into the design. Clear but not bright in appearance, staple holes but not holes due to folding. Tears can extend into the design, hole at center caused by folding allowable. Good - Very much wear, as VG, but more so, small pieces of the note may be missing Fair - Larger pieces of note torn off/missing, compared with G. Poor - Severe damage due to wear, staining, missing pieces, may be taped together, have pieces missing. In addition to grades, it is common to indicate an in-between grade, such as AU-UNC
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Scripophily
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Scripophily is the study and collection of stock and bond certificates. A specialized field of numismatics, scripophily is an area of collecting due to both the inherent beauty of some documents as well as the interesting historical context of each document. Some stock certificates are excellent examples of engraving, occasionally, an old stock certificate will be found that still has value as a stock in a successor company. Scripophily, the collecting of old stocks and bonds, gained recognition as a hobby around 1970, the word scripophily was coined by combining words from English and Greek. The word scrip represents an ownership right and the word means to love. Today, there are thousands of collectors worldwide in search of scarce, rare, collectors who come from a variety of businesses enjoy this as a hobby, although there are many who also consider scripophily a good investment. Many collectors like the significance of old certificates. Others prefer the beauty of older stocks and bonds that were printed in colors with fancy artwork. In recent times, Dot com companies and scandals have been particularly popular issuances, a recent addition to the hobby is collecting real, live shares issued in ones name. Common companies that issue stock certificates include Walt Disney, Harley-Davidson, McDonalds, Starbucks, Google, Ford Motors, Coca-Cola, again, framing is a popular option for these shares. Many autograph collectors are found in field, looking for signed certificates from John D. A large part of scripophily is the area of financial history, over the years there have been millions of companies which needed to raise money for their business. In order to do so, the founders of these companies issued securities, generally speaking, they either issued an equity security in the form of stock or a debt security in the form of a bond. However, there are varieties of equity and debt instruments. They can be common stock, preferred stock, warrants, cumulative preferred stocks, bonds, zero-coupon bonds, long term bonds, each certificate is a piece of history about a company and its business. Some companies became major successes, while others were acquired and merged with other companies, Some companies and industries were successful until they were replaced by new technologies. Some companies have been the center of scandal or fraud, a lot of companies either were never successful or went bankrupt, so that their certificates became worthless pieces of paper until the hobby of scripophily began. Today, more stocks and bonds are issued electronically, meaning fewer paper certificates are issued as a percentage of stock issued
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Stock
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The stock of a corporation is constituted of the equity stock of its owners. A single share of the stock represents fractional ownership of the corporation in proportion to the number of shares. In liquidation, the stock represents the residual assets of the company that would be due to stockholders after discharge of all senior claims such as secured and unsecured debt. Stockholders equity cannot be withdrawn from the company in a way that is intended to be detrimental to the companys creditors, the stock of a corporation is partitioned into shares, the total of which are stated at the time of business formation. Additional shares may subsequently be authorized by the shareholders and issued by the company. In some jurisdictions, each share of stock has a certain declared par value, in other jurisdictions, however, shares of stock may be issued without associated par value. Shares represent a fraction of ownership in a business, a business may declare different types of shares, each having distinctive ownership rules, privileges, or share values. Ownership of shares may be documented by issuance of a stock certificate. A stock certificate is a document that specifies the amount of shares owned by the shareholder. Stock typically takes the form of shares of common stock or preferred stock. As a unit of ownership, common stock typically carries voting rights that can be exercised in corporate decisions, shares of such stock are called convertible preferred shares. New equity issue may have specific legal clauses attached that differentiate them from previous issues of the issuer. Some shares of stock may be issued without the typical voting rights, for instance, or some shares may have special rights unique to them. Often, new issues that have not been registered with a governing body may be restricted from resale for certain periods of time. Preferred stock may be hybrid by having the qualities of bonds of fixed returns and they also have preference in the payment of dividends over common stock and also have been given preference at the time of liquidation over common stock. They have other features of accumulation in dividend, Rule 144 Stock is an American term given to shares of stock subject to SEC Rule 144, Selling Restricted and Control Securities. Under Rule 144, restricted and controlled securities are acquired in unregistered form, investors either purchase or take ownership of these securities through private sales from the issuing company or from an affiliate of the issuer. Investors wishing to sell these securities are subject to different rules than those selling traditional common or preferred stock and these individuals will only be allowed to liquidate their securities after meeting the specific conditions set forth by SEC Rule 144
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Bond (finance)
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In finance, a bond is an instrument of indebtedness of the bond issuer to the holders. The most common types of bonds include municipal bonds and corporate bonds, interest is usually payable at fixed intervals. Very often the bond is negotiable, that is, the ownership of the instrument can be transferred in the secondary market and this means that once the transfer agents at the bank medallion stamp the bond, it is highly liquid on the second market. Thus, a bond is a form of loan or IOU, the holder of the bond is the lender, the issuer of the bond is the borrower, and the coupon is the interest. Bonds provide the borrower with funds to finance long-term investments, or, in the case of government bonds. Certificates of deposit or short term commercial paper are considered to be money market instruments and not bonds, the main difference is in the length of the term of the instrument. Bonds and stocks are both securities, but the difference between the two is that stockholders have an equity stake in the company, whereas bondholders have a creditor stake in the company. Being a creditor, bondholders have priority over stockholders and this means they will be repaid in advance of stockholders, but will rank behind secured creditors in the event of bankruptcy. Another difference is that usually have a defined term, or maturity, after which the bond is redeemed. An exception is a bond, such as a consol, which is a perpetuity, that is. Bonds are issued by authorities, credit institutions, companies. The most common process for issuing bonds is through underwriting, when a bond issue is underwritten, one or more securities firms or banks, forming a syndicate, buy the entire issue of bonds from the issuer and re-sell them to investors. The security firm takes the risk of being unable to sell on the issue to end investors. Primary issuance is arranged by bookrunners who arrange the bond issue, have contact with investors and act as advisers to the bond issuer in terms of timing. The bookrunner is listed first among all participating in the issuance in the tombstone ads commonly used to announce bonds to the public. The bookrunners willingness to underwrite must be discussed prior to any decision on the terms of the issue as there may be limited demand for the bonds. In contrast, government bonds are issued in an auction. In some cases, both members of the public and banks may bid for bonds, in other cases, only market makers may bid for bonds
31.
Glossary of numismatics
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This article is a collection of Numismatic and coin collecting terms with concise explanation for the beginner or professional. Numismatics is the study of money and its history in all its varied forms. While numismatists are often characterized as studying coins, the discipline includes the study of banknotes, stock certificates, medals, medallions. Sub-fields or related fields of numismatics are, Exonumia, is the study of objects such as token coins and medals. Notaphily, is the study of money or banknotes. Scripophily, is the study and collection of stocks and bonds, adjustment The filing down of a blank to the correct weight before striking, shown by file marks. File marks are still visible on the surface of a coin even after being struck. Alliance coinage Coins minted by two or more state governments in conjunction, the Euro coins would be an example of this. Alloy Homogeneous mixture of two or more elements, where the compound has metallic properties. Common coin alloys include cupro-nickel and bronze, altered Date False date put on a coin to defraud collectors, usually to make it appear more valuable. Such alterations are often spotted with the aid of a magnifying glass. Anepigraphic coin Coin without an inscription, many ancient coins used only a simple picture of an animal to show value or weight. Annealing Process of heating and cooling metal in order to relieve stresses and this is often done with coin blanks to make the metal less brittle before striking. Assay Test to ascertain the weight and purity of a coin, attribution Identifier of a coin such as date, mint, denomination, or variety. Bag Mark Surface mark, or nick, on a coin usually from contact with other coins in a mint bag, more often seen on large gold or silver coins. Bankers Mark A small countermark applied to a coin by a bank or a trader indicating that they consider the coin to be genuine and of legal weight. Most often found on ancient and medieval coins, but also on coins which circulated in China and Japan. Base metal Non-precious metal or alloy containing no gold or silver, common base metals used in coinage include nickel and copper
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Ancient Greece
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Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th-9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and this was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedonia, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the end of the Mediterranean Sea. Classical Greek culture, especially philosophy, had a influence on ancient Rome. For this reason Classical Greece is generally considered to be the culture which provided the foundation of modern Western culture and is considered the cradle of Western civilization. Classical Antiquity in the Mediterranean region is considered to have begun in the 8th century BC. Classical Antiquity in Greece is preceded by the Greek Dark Ages and this period is succeeded, around the 8th century BC, by the Orientalizing Period during which a strong influence of Syro-Hittite, Jewish, Assyrian, Phoenician and Egyptian cultures becomes apparent. The end of the Dark Ages is also dated to 776 BC. The Archaic period gives way to the Classical period around 500 BC, Ancient Periods Astronomical year numbering Dates are approximate, consult particular article for details The history of Greece during Classical Antiquity may be subdivided into five major periods. The earliest of these is the Archaic period, in which artists made larger free-standing sculptures in stiff, the Archaic period is often taken to end with the overthrow of the last tyrant of Athens and the start of Athenian Democracy in 508 BC. It was followed by the Classical period, characterized by a style which was considered by observers to be exemplary, i. e. classical, as shown in the Parthenon. This period saw the Greco-Persian Wars and the Rise of Macedon, following the Classical period was the Hellenistic period, during which Greek culture and power expanded into the Near and Middle East. This period begins with the death of Alexander and ends with the Roman conquest, Herodotus is widely known as the father of history, his Histories are eponymous of the entire field. Herodotus was succeeded by authors such as Thucydides, Xenophon, Demosthenes, Plato, most of these authors were either Athenian or pro-Athenian, which is why far more is known about the history and politics of Athens than those of many other cities. Their scope is limited by a focus on political, military and diplomatic history, ignoring economic. In the 8th century BC, Greece began to emerge from the Dark Ages which followed the fall of the Mycenaean civilization, literacy had been lost and Mycenaean script forgotten, but the Greeks adopted the Phoenician alphabet, modifying it to create the Greek alphabet. The Lelantine War is the earliest documented war of the ancient Greek period and it was fought between the important poleis of Chalcis and Eretria over the fertile Lelantine plain of Euboea. Both cities seem to have suffered a decline as result of the long war, a mercantile class arose in the first half of the 7th century BC, shown by the introduction of coinage in about 680 BC
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Methods of coin debasement
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Coin debasement is the act of decreasing the amount of precious metal in a coin, while continuing to circulate it at face value. This was frequently done by governments in order to inflate the amount of currency in circulation, typically, some of the precious metal was replaced by a cheaper metal when the coin was minted. But when done by an individual, precious metal was removed from the coin. Coin debasement was effected by several methods, including clipping and sweating, until the mid-20th century, coins were often made of silver or gold, which were quite soft and prone to wear. This meant coins naturally got lighter as they aged, so coins that had lost an amount of bullion would go unnoticed. Modern coins are made of hard, cheap metals such as steel, copper or an alloy, reducing wear and making it difficult. Clipping is the act of shaving off a portion of a precious metal coin for profit. Over time, the precious metal clippings could be saved up, coin clipping is why many coins have the rim of the coin marked with stripes, text or some other pattern that would be destroyed if the coin were clipped. This practice is attributed to Isaac Newton, who was appointed Master of the Mint in 1699, in the process of sweating, coins were placed in a bag and shaken. The bits of metal that had worn off the coins were recovered from the bottom of the bag, sweating tended to wear the coin in a more natural way than clipping, and so was harder to detect. If the coin was large, a hole could be punched out of the middle, or the coin could be sawed in half, and a plug of metal extracted from the interior. After filling the hole with a metal, the two halves would be welded back together again. Verbal references to plugged quarters and plugged dimes eventually yielded the common phrase not worth a plugged nickel, the history and theory of money
34.
Leonardo da Vinci
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He has been variously called the father of palaeontology, ichnology, and architecture, and is widely considered one of the greatest painters of all time. Sometimes credited with the inventions of the parachute, helicopter and tank, many historians and scholars regard Leonardo as the prime exemplar of the Universal Genius or Renaissance Man, an individual of unquenchable curiosity and feverishly inventive imagination. Much of his working life was spent in the service of Ludovico il Moro in Milan. He later worked in Rome, Bologna and Venice, and he spent his last years in France at the home awarded to him by Francis I of France, Leonardo was, and is, renowned primarily as a painter. Among his works, the Mona Lisa is the most famous and most parodied portrait, Leonardos drawing of the Vitruvian Man is also regarded as a cultural icon, being reproduced on items as varied as the euro coin, textbooks, and T-shirts. Perhaps fifteen of his paintings have survived, Leonardo is revered for his technological ingenuity. He conceptualised flying machines, a type of armoured fighting vehicle, concentrated power, an adding machine. Some of his inventions, however, such as an automated bobbin winder. A number of Leonardos most practical inventions are nowadays displayed as working models at the Museum of Vinci. He made substantial discoveries in anatomy, civil engineering, geology, optics, and hydrodynamics, today, Leonardo is widely considered one of the most diversely talented individuals ever to have lived. Leonardo was born on 15 April 1452 at the hour of the night in the Tuscan hill town of Vinci. He was the son of the wealthy Messer Piero Fruosino di Antonio da Vinci, a Florentine legal notary, and Caterina. Leonardo had no surname in the modern sense – da Vinci simply meaning of Vinci, his birth name was Lionardo di ser Piero da Vinci, meaning Leonardo. The inclusion of the title ser indicated that Leonardos father was a gentleman, little is known about Leonardos early life. He spent his first five years in the hamlet of Anchiano in the home of his mother and his father had married a sixteen-year-old girl named Albiera Amadori, who loved Leonardo but died young in 1465 without children. When Leonardo was sixteen, his father married again to twenty-year-old Francesca Lanfredini, pieros legitimate heirs were born from his third wife Margherita di Guglielmo and his fourth and final wife, Lucrezia Cortigiani. Leonardo received an education in Latin, geometry and mathematics. In later life, Leonardo recorded only two childhood incidents, one, which he regarded as an omen, was when a kite dropped from the sky and hovered over his cradle, its tail feathers brushing his face
35.
Donato Bramante
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Donato Bramante, born as Donato di Pascuccio dAntonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style to Rome and his Tempietto marked the beginning of the High Renaissance in Rome when Pope Julius II appointed him to build a sanctuary over the spot where Peter was allegedly crucified. Bramante was born under the name Donato dAugnolo, Donato di Pascuccio dAntonio, here, in 1467, Luciano Laurana was adding to the Palazzo Ducale an arcaded courtyard and other Renaissance features to Federico da Montefeltros ducal palace. Around 1474, Bramante moved to Milan, a city with a deep Gothic architectural tradition, and built several churches in the new Antique style. The Duke, Ludovico Sforza, made him virtually his court architect, beginning in 1476, space was limited, and Bramante made a theatrical apse in bas-relief, combining the painterly arts of perspective with Roman details. There is a sacristy, surmounted by a dome. In Milan, Bramante also built the tribune of Santa Maria delle Grazie, other works include the Cloisters of SantAmbrogio, Milan. However, in 1499, with his Sforza patron driven from Milan by an invading French army, Bramante made his way to Rome, in Rome, he was soon recognized by Cardinal Della Rovere, shortly to become Pope Julius II. Despite its small scale, the construction has all the proportions and symmetry of Classical structures, surrounded by slender Doric columns. According to an engraving by Sebastiano Serlio, Bramante planned to set it within a colonnaded courtyard. In November 1503, Julius engaged Bramante for the construction of the grandest European architectural commission of the 16th century, the cornerstone of the first of the great piers of the crossing was laid with ceremony on 17 April 1506. Very few drawings by Bramante survive, though some by his assistants do, Bramantes plan envisaged four great chapels filling the corner spaces between the equal transepts, each one capped with a smaller dome surrounding the great dome over the crossing. So Bramantes original plan was much more Romano-Byzantine in its forms than the basilica that was actually built. Bramante also worked on other commissions. Among his earliest works in Rome, before the Basilicas construction was under way, is the cloister of Santa Maria della Pace near Piazza Navona, Santa Maria presso San Satiro, Milan, ca. Palazzo Caprini, Rome, started around 1510 Leon Battista Alberti Giorgio Vasari Davies, Paul, Bramante, Donato, The Dictionary of Art, Vol. IV, New York, Grove, pp. 642–653, ISBN9781884446009. Bramante, Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed. Vol. IV, New York, Charles Scribners Sons,1878, Bramante, Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th ed. Vol. IV, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press,1911, p.418. Donato Bramante Source Information, Pictures & Documentaries about Donato
36.
St. Peter's Basilica
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The Papal Basilica of St. Peter in the Vatican, or simply St. Peters Basilica, is an Italian Renaissance church in Vatican City, the papal enclave within the city of Rome. While it is neither the church of the Catholic Church nor the cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. It has been described as holding a position in the Christian world. Catholic tradition holds that the Basilica is the site of Saint Peter, one of Christs Apostles. Saint Peters tomb is supposedly directly below the altar of the Basilica. For this reason, many Popes have been interred at St. Peters since the Early Christian period, construction of the present basilica, which would replace Old St. Peters Basilica from the 4th century AD, began on 18 April 1506 and was completed on 18 November 1626. St. Peters is famous as a place of pilgrimage and for its liturgical functions. The Pope presides at a number of liturgies throughout the year, drawing audiences of 15,000 to over 80,000 people, either within the Basilica or the adjoining St. Peters Square. St. Peters has many associations, with the Early Christian Church, the Papacy. As a work of architecture, it is regarded as the greatest building of its age, St. Peters is one of the four churches in the world that hold the rank of Major Basilica, all four of which are in Rome. Contrary to popular misconception, it is not a cathedral because it is not the seat of a bishop, St. Peters is a church built in the Renaissance style located in the Vatican City west of the River Tiber and near the Janiculum Hill and Hadrians Mausoleum. Its central dome dominates the skyline of Rome, the basilica is approached via St. Peters Square, a forecourt in two sections, both surrounded by tall colonnades. The first space is oval and the second trapezoid, the basilica is cruciform in shape, with an elongated nave in the Latin cross form but the early designs were for a centrally planned structure and this is still in evidence in the architecture. The central space is dominated both externally and internally by one of the largest domes in the world, the entrance is through a narthex, or entrance hall, which stretches across the building. One of the bronze doors leading from the narthex is the Holy Door. The interior is of vast dimensions when compared with other churches and this in its turn overwhelms us. The nave which leads to the dome is in three bays, with piers supporting a barrel-vault, the highest of any church. The nave is framed by wide aisles which have a number of chapels off them, there are also chapels surrounding the dome
37.
Screw press
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A screw press is a type of machine press in which the ram is driven up and down by a screw. The screw shaft can be driven by a handle or a wheel and it works by using a coarse screw to convert the rotation of the handle or drive-wheel into a small downward movement of greater force. The overhead handle usually incorporates balls as flyweights, the weights helps to maintain the momentum and thrust of the tool to make it easier to operate. The screw press was first invented and used by the Romans in the first century A. D and it was used primarily in wine and olive oil production. The screwpress was also used in Gutenbergs printing press in the mid-15th century, a press is a metalworking machine tool used to shape or cut metal by deforming it with a die. It is frequently used to punch holes in metal in one operation. If used as a punch, the tool consists of a punch. Both are usually machined and then hardened. The material is introduced between the punch and die, and the machine operated, the punch will cut through the material in one movement by shearing it. The punch and die may be of any desired shape, so odd shaped holes, if used as a forging tool the dies can be many different shapes varying from flat to various shapes that will mold the metal to the desired configuration. A fly press is a type of press in which the screw shaft is driven by a flywheel or a pair of fly weights at the ends of a bar. The wheel can either be cranked by hand or driven by a using a friction coupling. The wheel is weighted so its momentum will maintain the motion of the shaft
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Bulla (seal)
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A Bulla is an inscribed clay or soft metal or bitumen or wax token used in commercial and legal documentation as a form of identification and for tamper-proofing whatever is attached to it. In this form, bullae represent one of the earliest forms of specialization in the ancient world, Bullae are still occasionally attached to documents for these purposes. During the period 8, 000–7,500 BCE, the Sumerian agriculturalists needed a way to keep records of their animals, small clay tokens were formed and shaped by the palms to represent certain animals and goods. Clay tokens allowed for agriculturalists to keep track of animals and food that had been traded, stored, because grain production became such a major part of life, they needed to store their extra grain in shared facilities and account for their food. This clay token system went unchanged for about 4,000 years until the tokens started to more elaborate in appearance. The tokens were similar in size, material, and color, as the growth of goods being produced grew and the exchanging of goods became more common, changes to tokens were made to keep up with the growth. Transactions for trading needed to be accounted for efficiently, so the clay tokens were placed in a ball to keep the tokens together. This helped with dishonesty and kept all the tokens together, in order to account for the tokens, the bulla would have to be crushed to reveal their content. Eventually seals were impressed into the clay alongside of the impression of the tokens, each party had its own unique seal to identify them. Seals would not only individuals, but it would also identify their office. As the clay tokens and bulla became difficult to store and handle, clay tablets were easier to store, neater to write on, and less likely to be lost. Impressing the tokens on clay tablets was more efficient but using a stylus to inscribe the impression on the tablet was shown to be even more efficient. Around 3,100 BCE signs expressing numerical value began, by now, clay tokens became obsolete, a thing of the past. During the early Bronze Age, urban economies developed due to urban settlements, the recording of trade became necessary because production, shipments, inventories, and wage payments had to be noted, and merchants needed to preserve records of their transactions. Tokens were replaced by pictographic tablets that could not only how many but also where, when. This was the beginning of Sumerian cuneiform, the first known writing system, the Sumerians developed a complex system of metrology as early as 3000 BCE. From 2600 BCE. onwards, the Sumerians wrote multiplication tables, division problems, the earliest evidences of the Babylonian numerals also date back to this period. This evidence may suggest that Bulla evolved into forms of mathematics
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Augsburg
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Augsburg is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It was a Free Imperial City for over 500 years and it is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is a district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is the third-largest city in Bavaria with a population of 286,000 citizens, after Neuss and Trier, Augsburg is Germanys third oldest city, being founded by the Romans as Augusta Vindelicorum, named after the Roman emperor Augustus. Augsburg is the only German city with its own legal holiday and this gives Augsburg more legal holidays than any other region or city in Germany. Augsburg was the home of two families that rose to great prominence internationally, replacing the Medicis as Europes leading bankers, the Fugger. Augsburg lies at the convergence of the Alpine rivers Lech and Wertach, in the south extends the Lechfeld, an Outwash plain of the post ice age between the rivers Lech and Wertach, where rare primeval landscapes were preserved. The Augsburg city forest and the Lech valley heaths today rank among the most species-rich middle European habitats, on Augsburg borders the nature park Augsburg Western Woods - a large forestland. The city itself is also heavily greened, as a result, in 1997 Augsburg was the first German city to win the Europe-wide contest Entente Florale for Europes greenest and most livable city. Augsburg is surrounded by the counties Landkreis Augsburg in the west, the neighboring towns and cities are Friedberg, Königsbrunn, Stadtbergen, Neusäß, Gersthofen, Rehling, Affing, Kissing, Mering, Merching, Bobingen, Gessertshausen und Diedorf. Augsburg has a continental climate. The city was founded in 15 BC by Drusus and Tiberius as Augusta Vindelicorum, the name means Augusta of the Vindelici. This garrison camp soon became the capital of the Roman province of Raetia, thus, Augsburg was the intersection of many important European east-west and north-south connections, which later evolved as major trade routes of the Middle Ages. Around 120 AD Augsburg became the capital of the Roman province Raetia, Augsburg was sacked by the Huns in the 5th century AD, by Charlemagne in the 8th century, and by Welf of Bavaria in the 11th century, but arose each time to greater prosperity. Augsburg was granted the status of a Free Imperial City on March 9,1276 and from then until 1803, it was independent of its former overlord, the Prince-Bishop of Augsburg. Frictions between the city-state and the prince-bishops were to remain frequent however, particularly after Augsburg became Protestant and curtailed the rights, with a strategic location as intersection of trade routes to Italy, the Free Imperial City became a major trading center. Augsburg produced large quantities of goods, cloth and textiles. Augsburg became the base of two banking families that rose to prominence, the Fuggers and the Welsers
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Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
41.
Henry II of France
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Henry II was a monarch of the House of Valois who ruled as King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder brother Francis III, Duke of Brittany, as a child, Henry and his elder brother spent over four years in captivity in Spain as hostages in exchange for their father. Henry pursued his fathers policies in matter of arts, wars and he persevered in the Italian Wars against the House of Habsburg and tried to suppress the Protestant Reformation, even as the Huguenot numbers were increasing drastically in France during his reign. Henry suffered a death in a jousting tournament held to celebrate the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis at the conclusion of the Eighth Italian War. The kings surgeon, Ambroise Paré, was unable to cure the infected wound inflicted by Gabriel de Montgomery and he was succeeded in turn by three of his sons, whose ineffective reigns helped to spark the French Wars of Religion between Protestants and Catholics. Henry was born in the royal Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris and his father was captured at the Battle of Pavia in 1525 by the forces of his sworn enemy, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, and held prisoner in Spain. To obtain his release, it was agreed that Henry and his brother be sent to Spain in his place. They remained in captivity for four years. Henry married Catherine de Medici, a member of the family of Florence, on 28 October 1533. The following year, he became involved with a thirty-five-year-old widow. They had always very close, she had publicly embraced him on the day he set off to Spain. Diane became Henrys mistress and most trusted confidante and, for the next years, wielded considerable influence behind the scenes. Extremely confident, mature and intelligent, she left Catherine powerless to intervene and she did, however, insist that Henry sleep with Catherine in order to produce heirs to the throne. When his elder brother Francis, the Dauphin and Duke of Brittany, died in 1536 after a game of tennis and he succeeded his father on his 28th birthday and was crowned King of France on 25 July 1547 at Reims Cathedral. Henrys reign was marked by wars with Austria and the persecution of Protestants, Henry II severely punished them, particularly the ministers, for example by burning at the stake or cutting off their tongues for uttering heresies. Even those only suspected of being Huguenots could be imprisoned and it also strictly regulated publications by prohibiting the sale, importation or printing of any unapproved book. It was during the reign of Henry II that Huguenot attempts at establishing a colony in Brazil were made, persecution of Protestants at home did not prevent Henry II from becoming allied with German Protestant princes at the Treaty of Chambord in 1552. Simultaneously, the continuation of his fathers Franco-Ottoman alliance allowed Henry II to push for French conquests towards the Rhine while a Franco-Ottoman fleet defended southern France, an early offensive into Lorraine was successful
42.
Elizabeth I of England
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Elizabeth I was Queen of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, his second wife, who was executed two and a half years after Elizabeths birth. Annes marriage to Henry VIII was annulled, and Elizabeth was declared illegitimate, edwards will was set aside and Mary became queen, deposing Lady Jane Grey. During Marys reign, Elizabeth was imprisoned for nearly a year on suspicion of supporting Protestant rebels, in 1558, Elizabeth succeeded her half-sister to the throne and set out to rule by good counsel. She depended heavily on a group of trusted advisers, led by William Cecil, one of her first actions as queen was the establishment of an English Protestant church, of which she became the Supreme Governor. This Elizabethan Religious Settlement was to evolve into the Church of England and it was expected that Elizabeth would marry and produce an heir to continue the Tudor line. She never did, despite numerous courtships, as she grew older, Elizabeth became famous for her virginity. A cult grew around her which was celebrated in the portraits, pageants, in government, Elizabeth was more moderate than her father and half-siblings had been. One of her mottoes was video et taceo, in religion, she was relatively tolerant and avoided systematic persecution. Elizabeth was cautious in foreign affairs, manoeuvring between the powers of France and Spain. She only half-heartedly supported a number of ineffective, poorly resourced military campaigns in the Netherlands, France, by the mid-1580s, England could no longer avoid war with Spain. Englands defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 associated Elizabeth with one of the greatest military victories in English history, Elizabeths reign is known as the Elizabethan era. Some historians depict Elizabeth as a short-tempered, sometimes indecisive ruler, towards the end of her reign, a series of economic and military problems weakened her popularity. Such was the case with Elizabeths rival, Mary, Queen of Scots, after the short reigns of Elizabeths half-siblings, her 44 years on the throne provided welcome stability for the kingdom and helped forge a sense of national identity. Elizabeth was born at Greenwich Palace and was named after both her grandmothers, Elizabeth of York and Elizabeth Howard and she was the second child of Henry VIII of England born in wedlock to survive infancy. Her mother was Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn, at birth, Elizabeth was the heir presumptive to the throne of England. She was baptised on 10 September, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, the Marquess of Exeter, the Duchess of Norfolk, Elizabeth was two years and eight months old when her mother was beheaded on 19 May 1536, four months after Catherine of Aragons death from natural causes. Elizabeth was declared illegitimate and deprived of her place in the royal succession, eleven days after Anne Boleyns execution, Henry married Jane Seymour, who died shortly after the birth of their son, Prince Edward, in 1537
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Royal Mint
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The Royal Mint is the body permitted to strike British coins. The Royal Mint originated over 1,100 years ago, producing coins for England, since 2010 it has operated as Royal Mint Ltd, a company owned by HM Treasury, under an exclusive contract to supply all coinage for the UK. Royal Mint Ltd is 100% owned by HM Treasury, which delegates shareholder responsibilities to the Shareholder Executive, responsibility for the security of the site falls to the Ministry of Defence Police, who provide an armed contingent. In 1968 The Royal Mint began to move its operations from Tower Hill in the City of London to Llantrisant, Mid Glamorgan, Wales, and has operated on a single site in Llantrisant since 1980. At Llantrisant it holds a collection of coins dating from the 16th century onwards, housed in eighty cabinets made by Elizabeth IIs cabinet maker. The site occupies 38 acres and employs over 900 people, the annual Trial of the Pyx assays coins produced for the UK government for size, weight and chemical composition. The London Mint first became an institution in 886, during the reign of Alfred the Great. By 1279 it had moved to the Tower of London, and remained there the next 500 years and he unofficially moved the Pound Sterling to the gold standard from silver in 1717. By the time Newton arrived, the Mint had expanded to fill several rickety wooden buildings ranged around the outside of the Tower, in the eighteenth century the processes for minting coins were mechanised and rolling mills and coining presses were installed. The new machinery and the demand on space in the Tower of London following the outbreak of war with France led to a decision to move the Mint to an adjacent site in East Smithfield. The new building, designed by James Johnson and Robert Smirke, was completed in 1809, and included space for the new machinery, the building was rebuilt in the 1880s to accommodate new machinery which increased the capacity of the Mint. During World War II, The Royal Mint was bombed by the Germans, the Royal Mint was hit on several occasions and was put out of commission for three weeks at one point. In 1967 it was announced that the mint would move away from London to new buildings in Llantrisant, smirkes 1809 Building is now used as commercial offices by Barclays Global Investors. On 1 April 1975 The Royal Mint became a trading fund to improve its efficiency by requiring it to become self-financing. In March 2009, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling began planning to sell off The Royal Mint, on 31 December 2009 it ceased to be an executive agency and its assets were vested in a limited company, Royal Mint Ltd. The owner of the new company became The Royal Mint trading fund, the Royal Mint exists principally to mint coins for circulation in the UK. As of 2013, The Royal Mint produces approximately 15% of the coin based currency. From the 1970s to 2009, it produced all Order of the British Empire Insignia, the Royal Mint in London also produced coins for Canada until a branch was opened in the Canadian capital city Ottawa in 1908
44.
Charles I of England
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Charles I was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles was the son of King James VI of Scotland, but after his father inherited the English throne in 1603, he moved to England. He became heir apparent to the English, Irish, and Scottish thrones on the death of his brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. Two years later, he married the Bourbon princess Henrietta Maria of France instead, after his succession, Charles quarrelled with the Parliament of England, which sought to curb his royal prerogative. Charles believed in the right of kings and thought he could govern according to his own conscience. Many of his subjects opposed his policies, in particular the levying of taxes without parliamentary consent and he supported high church ecclesiastics, such as Richard Montagu and William Laud, and failed to aid Protestant forces successfully during the Thirty Years War. From 1642, Charles fought the armies of the English and Scottish parliaments in the English Civil War, after his defeat in 1645, he surrendered to a Scottish force that eventually handed him over to the English Parliament. Charles refused to accept his captors demands for a constitutional monarchy, re-imprisoned on the Isle of Wight, Charles forged an alliance with Scotland, but by the end of 1648 Oliver Cromwells New Model Army had consolidated its control over England. Charles was tried, convicted, and executed for treason in January 1649. The monarchy was abolished and a called the Commonwealth of England was declared. The monarchy was restored to Charless son, Charles II, in 1660, the second son of King James VI of Scotland and Anne of Denmark, Charles was born in Dunfermline Palace, Fife, on 19 November 1600. James VI was the first cousin twice removed of Queen Elizabeth I of England, in mid-July 1604, Charles left Dunfermline for England where he was to spend most of the rest of his life. His speech development was slow, and he retained a stammer, or hesitant speech. In January 1605, Charles was created Duke of York, as is customary in the case of the English sovereigns second son, Thomas Murray, a Presbyterian Scot, was appointed as a tutor. Charles learnt the usual subjects of classics, languages, mathematics, in 1611, he was made a Knight of the Garter. Eventually, Charles apparently conquered his physical infirmity, which might have been caused by rickets and he became an adept horseman and marksman, and took up fencing. Even so, his public profile remained low in contrast to that of his stronger and taller elder brother, Henry Frederick, Prince of Wales. However, in early November 1612, Henry died at the age of 18 of what is suspected to have been typhoid, Charles, who turned 12 two weeks later, became heir apparent
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"Mill". Encyclopædia Britannica. 18 (11th ed.). 1911.
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