Posted on 02/25/2008 5:38:08 AM PST by DeaconBenjamin
ping
And that’s why they evolved into uniform roundness, with the serrated edges, to prevent people from “coin-shaving,” ie. snipping little bits of silver or gold from them before reusing them.
But I always thought a uniform coinage required a strong central government to issue them.
Ol’ Julius insisted they were all a bunch of warring tribes who needed a strong hand on their necks.
ROTFL!
All it takes is a scale, a hammer, an anvil, a stamp, and a heat source hot enough to make two gold nuggets stick together. We’re talking about gold here. Gold is money regardless if it is in the shape of a coin or not. Coins just make it easier to count and easier to divide into smaller quantities.
During the california gold rush, the state of california was minting tiny gold coins. Actually, maybe it wasn’t the state, but a bank or an assayer. I forget the denomination, maybe a half dollar. But the size of this little coin was only about a quarter of an inch wide, maybe 3/8” My mother had one of these coins when I was a kid. I’ve no idea what happened to it. It had a bear on one side, like the bear on the california state flag.
Gold Rush California is a fascinating case. They had gold dust and nuggets out their ears but it makes an impractical medium of exchange. The feds were taking forever to set up a new mint in San Fran so several of the more reputable banks (with the tacit approval of the territorial government) undertook to answer the need by setting up their own mints, so for a few years the place was awash in a variety of private coinages (none of which were ever credibly accused of dubious purity).
The recent salvage of the S.S. Central America brought to light some coin series that had been unknown to history.
But you need some kind of authority to enforce the purity and given weight of the coins in question. Then again, these were the days when any merchant carried his own scales and bit coins before accepting them.
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Thanks for the pings -- Red Badger, CholeraJoe, and rdl6989. Nice lookin' 'oard. |
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“75- 50BC. “
Given this date range, is it possible the area of brittany in question was impacted by caesar’s invasion? I recall some of his campaign was in modern belgium/NL, and some near the rhine, but don’t recall brittany being directly involved?
this fits, thanks (I had posted further down asking if this fit with his campaign).
I hope I’m the first to reply. I have all my money tied up in CDs. If I cash them in I will lose all the interest.
Since I’m willing to help you, I hope you will help me. Just send me $5,243.17 to offset my loss and I will immediately see about getting the $100,000 to you as soon as possible.
The weird part, one of them was to Louis the German. Louis? WTF? Charles the German, maybe... what kind of name is “Louis” for a German prince? Those crazy middle ages...
LOL!
That was not always the case. The early Roman Aes Graves bronze coinage was cast and some early denominations were large enough to break your toe if you dropped it.
Aes Grave. Cast bronze As (273.71 gm = 0.6 pounds). Rome, 241-235 BC. Janiform head of Dioscuri on raised disc / Head of Mercury left on raised disc, sickle behind. Thurlow/Vecchi 36.
Æ Aes Grave Triens (84.34 gm). Rome. Circa 225-217 BC. Helmeted head of Mars left on raised disk; below / Prow of galley right on raised disk; below. Thurlow-Vecchi 53;
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