by Tim Harry

Created on: January 02, 2010

Despite the constant promises of a cashless society, most people walk around with a pocket full or purse full of coins. The history of coinage though is a long one, with evidence stretching back some three millennia.

-World History of Coins

There is some evidence to suggest that coins were first produced in China at about 1000BC although the world history of coinage tends to focus more on the Mediterranean area. There are two possible locations for the first producers of coins in the West, the most oft quoted region is that of Lydia at around 650BC, although at a similar period coins were also being minted on the Aegina Island. These coins were specifically created amounts of melted gold and silver alloy, although even prior to this, weights of metal were being used as currency.

The earliest coins were changed though from lumps of melted metal into recognisable coins by the use of hammers and punches to imprint animal figures onto coins. Trading around the Mediterranean saw the idea of coinage spread, and the Persian Empire and the Greek Empire started minting larger numbers of coins. Roman coins are the most famous of all ancient coins, and the size of the Roman Empire ensured that the idea of coinage started to take over from previous barter systems.

-British History of Coins

It is often thought that coins in Britain started with the Roman invasion but there had been coins in Britain for two hundred years before the first Romans arrived. The first coins found were those minted in Gaul at about 200BC, and even by 100BC coins were being struck in Britain. These struck coins were copies of those being produced in Greece. The Romans centralised production, sometimes importing coins, and occasionally striking coins on the island.

The end of Roman rule saw two hundred years where no new coins were minted, and it was only into the 6th Century AD that coins were once again minted by the Anglo Saxons. It was a time of Viking invasion and although Alfred the Great produced coins from a number of mints, the coins of the Danelaw are more famous. Minting coins was though a dangerous occupation. Lowly paid, there were strict penalties for those in the trade who were found to be dishonest, and hands were cut off if coins were lost, or if coins were shaved. Local mints sprung up and there was no regulation of the coinage.

The number of mints grew rapidly, although the Norman invasion saw a stop to this proliferation, and by the thirteenth century there was only four mints. The small number of mints producing British coins remained for many centuries.

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