The Glorious History of Coinage

Article by Rob Russell. Edited by Cathy Humphreys. Additional Research by Ellie Veryard.

With the focus of this issue on money, I thought I would take a look at the history of those pesky little things called coins. Whether they clog up your wallet, are too few in number to pay for something, or are responsible for making some of your most crucial decisions, coins influence our behaviour all of the time. With this is mind, I thought I would find a few anecdotes from the past to bring to light the glorious history of coinage!

Believe it or not Roman coins once fulfilled a greater purpose than occupying the Sunday afternoons of middle-aged men scouring the beaches of South East England with metal detectors. For Romans, coins were not only a form of currency; they often gave many citizens their only conception of what the Emperor looked like. At no other point in Roman History was this more noticeable than when the face of Julian the Apostate was plastered across Roman coins between 355 and 363AD. The problem for poor Julian was that his face happened to be covered by a great big bushy beard (necessary Hot Fuzz reference) and the noble citizens of Rome deemed this to be somewhat scruffy. As a result, Julian was mocked all across the empire, all because of his failure to shave. So the next time you pull a copper out of your pocket, spare a thought for poor old Julian.

As long as coins have been around there have always been those who have tried to cheat the system and make their own coinage, with the history of coins and money synonymous with that of counterfeiting. One such example is the story of Billy Smith and Charley Eaton, a pair of Londoners in the 19th century who searched for artefacts on the banks of the Thames and sold them on to dealers. The problem came in the 1850s when shortages of findings led the pair to start making fake Roman coins. Eventually their deception was exposed, but their fakes can still be purchased today and somewhat ironically are now a collectable item.

Other stories of note about coins revolve around the simple flip of a coin. It’s quite common for crucial decisions to be made by flipping a coin, for what could be simpler or fairer than heads or tails? Indeed the local Annotto Bay election of June 2003 in Jamaica was decided through this method, when after a recount, Anthony Bryon and Patrick White were found to be tied on the same number of votes. As a result the winner had to be decided by the flip of a coin. A similar event occurred at the Eagle Pub in Cambridge, 1953. After finding “the secret of life” in the form of DNA, scientists Francis Crick and James Watson decided to flip a coin to sort out whose name would go first on the publication of this groundbreaking discovery. Sadly for Mr Crick, Mr Watson won the coin toss, leaving the former undoubtedly wishing they had chosen to do it alphabetically.

What is also worth noting with coins is their ever changing value. Back in the days of yesteryear, children up and down the land would have been given their pocket money on a Saturday morning. Grandparents often speak of mysterious coins called ‘halfpennies’ and ‘farthings’, which at the time equalled a half or a quarter of a penny respectively. Today, the notion of something being worth less than a penny is ridiculous. In the modern world, due to ever increasing prices, a Mars bar is no longer thirty pence from the tuck shop, and pennies are largely consigned to the backs of sofas or unused jars. But that is not to say we should forget about the importance of coins all together, as they make up a part of our history.

So there you are. As millions of coins circulate around Britain, the next time you have one in the palm of your hand spare a thought as to where it might have been or what key life decisions it may have made!

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Julius Caesar was the first living individual to appear on a Roman coin. Previously ancestors had been used.

Roman currency was made up of five types of coins: aureus (gold), denarius (silver), sestertius (bronze), duponduis (bronze) and as (copper)

Containing precious metals Roman coins had intrinsic value, unlike modern coins, with the coin typically being worth more than it’s metal content.

According to Pompeian graffiti, an ‘as’ could buy one an evening with a cheap prostitute.

According to Aristotle the first coins were struck by Demodike of Kyme, Ancient Greece. Heroditious stated that the Lydians were the first to coin gold and silver separately. Historians and archaeologists disagree over their original appearance; some argue it was among Indians in the fifth and sixth centuries BC, others believe they originated in Lydia, Anatolia, c. 600-550BC. Others argue for Aegina Chelone coins minted ca.700-550BC. Differences emerge over whether coins were actually weighted and, if not, can they still be classed as coins.

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