The Ancient History of silver coins

People have always been attracted by silver, and not just by silver jewelry, but by “silver money” (silver coins). Silver have been an important part of trade business since Ancient time.

Silver was one of the most domineering parts of trade in the early civilizations of Sumer and Egypt. Actually, they didn’t use coins, they used ingots, which could then be cut up into small chunks or drawn into wire. And this silver was regarded as a salary or wages for rulers and temples. In fact, it wasn’t used among general circulation or the population.

Philip II of Macedon (359-336 BC) swiftly took up coinage in the blossoming Greek city states just across the Aegean sea. His famous son, Alexander the Great(336-323 B.C.), built up by the Persians from silver sources on the river Oxus in northern Afghanistan. Alexander the Great spread the concept of coinage throughout the lands he conquered. For both Philip II and Alexander the Great silver coins became an essential way of paying their armies and meeting other military expenses. They also used coins to make a realistic portrait of the ruler of the country. Many public works and architectural achievements were also depicted (among them the Coliseum, the Circus Maximus). In addition many important political events were recorded on the coinage. You can find in the museums coins with pictures of the assassination of Julius Caesar or an alliance between cities.

Roman silver coins served as an important means of political propaganda. The Romans also used silver coins as a powerful way of paying their legions. These coins were used for most daily transactions by administrators, traders and for army pay. They saved the tradition of realistic portraiture, by the way the Romans depicted the progression of an emperor from boyhood through maturity. The Roman Empire between 200 and 400 AD lost a lot of silver coins, because many of them were struck and distributed throughout the empire. Most of these coins were saved in the hoards in Britain (you can notably see them in the British Museum in London). Coins usually sat down the virtues of the emperors or theirs famous victories.

Silver ancient coins help us to understand the history of Ancient Greece and The Roman Empire, because many unknown usurpers (in case they weren’t recorded in the history) become known through their coins.