Currently, no man can imagine life without money. But it was not always so. When did they enter people's lives? It is known that the first money was in the form of coins.
Scientists and archaeologists are still arguing about the true age of the first coin on Earth. Experts in this area have conducted a lot of research to determine the exact date of its appearance. They studied ancient sources and tried to understand the purpose of such an invention. It is amazing to imagine how hundreds of years ago before primitive civilization, people found an option to pay for their needs.
What does history testify to?
It proves with undeniable accuracy that the oldest coins in the world appeared in Asia Minor (approximately the territory of modern Turkey). Who was the first to create the coin? What are the legends about its creation? You will learn the answers to these questions by reading the full article.
Find the very first coin in the world
“The Lydians were the first of those who learned how to mint and use silver and gold coins ...” Herodotus reported. What does this mean and who are the Lydians? Let's look at these issues. The thing is that the first coins in the world whose minting year is not exactly known are coins from the city of Lydia (Asia Minor).
A stater or stater is the first coin known to people. It was popular in ancient Greece during the period from the 5th century BC. e. according to the 1st century AD e. At the moment, it is established that coins were made precisely under the Lydian king Ardis, in 685 BC. e.
On the territory of their city, the inhabitants of Lydia discovered a rich deposit of a natural alloy of gold and silver. This alloy is called - electrum, just from it the gold staters began to be made.
One of the oldest coins in the world was sold at auction in 2012 in New York for 650 thousand dollars. Lydia was located next to Greece, and due to this geographical location, there was some cultural similarity. Because of this, the stats entered into circulation in ancient Greece and the neighboring states. Some sources claim that the oldest coins in the world were still in circulation by the ancient Celts.
The earliest stats, preserved to the present time, have a very primitive appearance. One side of the coin is empty, and the second shows the head of a growling lion. The first statir was found in Palestine, its age is approximately 2700-3000 years. Below is a photo of the oldest coin in the world.
First silver coin
Lydian craftsmen began to mint gold and silver coins and use them as a means of payment. This has been made possible thanks to new methods for the purification of valuable metals. The oldest coin in the world, made of pure silver, was discovered in Greece and minted in Aegina. These coins were also called Aegin drachmas. On one side of the silver, a turtle was depicted - a symbol of the city of Aegina.
The minted Aegin coins quickly spread to Greece, and then even penetrated into Iran. A little later they began to be popular in many barbarian tribes. Looking at a drawing or photo of the first coin in the world, you can understand that it was small in size and had the appearance of a silver plate.
The then silver pieces were very different from modern coins. They were very bulky and nondescript, some of them weighed about 6 grams, and on the front side was depicted just a sign of the city. On the reverse side of the coin you can see traces of spikes with which a coin plate was held during minting.
Illinois coin
Some archaeologists claim that the legend of the Lydian coin (stat) is incorrect. A strange story is known in world archeology about how in the USA an old metal plate was found, similar to a coin, whose age was only several tens of years.
The story goes: in the state of Illinois in 1870 on the Lawn of the Range while drilling an artesian well, one of the workers - Jacob Moffit - came across a rounded plate made of a copper alloy. The thickness and size of the plate resembled an American coin of the time, equal to 25 cents.
Illinois coin appearance
This coin could not be called primitive, since it looked quite interesting. On one of its sides two human figures were depicted: one large and in a headdress, and the other small. On the back of the plate was an image of a strange animal that curled up. He had huge eyes and a mouth, long pointed ears, a long tail, and clawed legs.
Historians call this find a medallion or coin. By the way, on the edges of the plate there were inscriptions similar to hieroglyphs, which they have not been able to decode so far.
The first mention of a coin from Illinois
The earliest mention of this coin was left by a geologist from Michigan Alexander Winchell in his book “Sparks from the hammer of a geologist”. He used in it information obtained from notes made by an eyewitness to the find by William Wilmot in 1871.
In 1876, Professor Winchell introduced the plate to the world, this happened at a meeting of the American Association. Many geologists considered this act a hoax and thought that this coin is nothing but a fake.
Now, unfortunately, it is impossible to confirm or deny the authenticity of this find, since it has not been preserved to this day. All that remains of her is a description and a sketch.
The strangeness of this story is that some facts contradict themselves. Imagine that the coin really existed, but then many questions arise. The depth at which the oldest coin in the world was found is 35 meters, and these are layers of 200 thousand years old. It turns out that in America civilization already existed then? Even so, it is unlikely that Indians who lived in the pre-Columbian era knew how to get a copper alloy.
The first Russian gold coin
The first coin, made of gold in ancient Russia, was called Zlatnik or Zolotnik. It began to be minted in Kiev in the 10th-11th centuries after the Baptism of Rus by Prince Vladimir. There is no exact information about the true name of the first Russian coins. The term “zlatnik” is traditionally used, which is known thanks to the text of the Byzantine-Russian treaty dated 912. The oldest coins in the world are only 11 pieces.
The first spool was purchased by G. Bunge in Kiev in 1796 from a soldier who received a coin from his mother. In 1815, the spool was purchased and lost by Mogilyansky. Initially, zlatniks were considered analogues of Bulgarian or Serbian coins of Byzantine coinage. However, later it became possible to determine the true - Old Russian - origin of these coins. This was achieved thanks to the found treasures with coins, their research and decoding of the inscriptions on them.
Known finds of silver and gold
The news that the zlatniks and pieces of silver were nevertheless of Old Russian origin cast doubt on the entire collection of Byzantine coins in the Hermitage. Near Pinsk, four zlatniks were found. Every year the number of found pieces of silver increased, and this served as a vivid proof of the existence of the monetary system in ancient Russia.
The final argument was made by the treasure found in Nizhyn in 1852, in which, among other valuable things, about two hundred pieces of silver were found. Each year, the number of silver coins found increased, and thanks to this, more and more private collections appeared.
Appearance of Zlatnik
On the front side of the coin was a portrait of Prince Vladimir in a headdress with a cross in his right hand and his left lying on his chest. The trident was depicted above - a characteristic sign of the Rurikovich clan. In a circle was an inscription in Cyrillic, which said: Vladimir on the throne.
On the back of the coin was depicted the figure of Christ, in whose left hand the gospel, and the right was in a blessing position. In a circle, as on the front side, there was also an inscription: Jesus Christ.
Zlatnik Physical Characteristics
The diameter of the spool was 19-24 mm, and the weight was about 4-4.5 g. All of the currently known goldilders were minted by interconnected coin stamps. The size of the print for the front side of the coin corresponded to the stamp for the back side.
Currently 6 pairs of stamps are known. The inscriptions and images on them are very carefully executed, and in the same style. However, each stamp is different from each other. According to the descriptions, it is known that three pairs of stamps are made, apparently, by the same person, since they are made very carefully.
The next pair is made rather rudely, and the letter is missing in the inscription on the front side. The remaining two pairs of stamps, in all probability, were copied from the previous ones. The master, most likely, was inexperienced, since he retained only the general appearance of the coin, and such a detail as the position of the hands of Christ was changed. The letters of the inscription are also located not quite right, not like in previous versions of spools.
Interesting Facts
Next, we will consider some historical events associated with the first ancient Russian coin:
- Coin plates were cast using folding embossing forms, which is evident from the appearance of the spools.
- The average mass of the spool is 4.2 g, in the future this value was taken as the basis for the weight unit in ancient Russia.
- The appearance of Russian coins contributed to the revival of cultural and commercial ties with Byzantium.
- Byzantine solidi made under the emperors Constantine VIII and Vasily II served as a model for Vladimir’s spools. The zlatniks were similar to the Byzantine solid in their weight and the arrangement of the pattern on the coin plate.
- In 1988, the 1000th anniversary of the old Russian coinage was celebrated, in honor of this event a gold coin was issued depicting Prince Vladimir.
- The minting of gold coins lasted only a few years during the life of Prince Vladimir, and did not resume after his death.
The use of old Russian coins has exclusively commercial meaning, because as a subject of a ritual, gift or reward, the goldman has never been used.