Re: The Invention of Money, Money in the Mediterranean Zone
Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2022 4:29 am
Many thanks for correcting me. That having been said, I was referring to the use of rods as currency while coins were in circulation, which seems to have only happened in Sparta.DCHindley wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 3:16 pmI was thinking of the ancient Greek obol, which consisted of six copper rods. Yes, the Spartans had their iron obol too.ABuddhist wrote: ↑Mon Sep 05, 2022 4:41 am1. As far as I am aware, only the Spartans used rods as currency, and their rods were made from iron.DCHindley wrote: ↑Sun Sep 04, 2022 4:36 pm I guess that the most ancient of Romans (or was that Greeks?) kept their wealth as copper rods, and might exchange a handful of these rods for goods or services. Back then weapons of war were made of brass, which is made partly from copper, so copper had value.
2. Weapons were made from bronze, iron, and occasionally from steel, not brass.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obol_(coin)
Obols were used from early times. According to Plutarch they were originally spits of copper or bronze traded by weight, while six obols make a drachma or a handful, since that was as many as the hand could grasp.[2] Heraklides of Pontus in his work On Etymologies mentions the obols of Heraion and derives the origin of obolos from obelos. This is confirmed by the historian Ephorus on his work On Inventions. Excavations at Argos discovered several dozen of these early obols, dated well before 800 BC; they are now displayed at the Numismatic Museum of Athens. Archaeologists today describe the iron spits as "utensil-money" since excavated hoards indicate that during the Late Geometric period they were exchanged in handfuls (drachmae) of six spits,[3] they were not used for manufacturing artifacts as metallurgical analyses suggest, but they were most likely used as token-money.[4] Plutarch states the Spartans had an iron obol of four coppers. They retained the cumbersome and impractical bars rather than proper coins to discourage the pursuit of wealth.[5]
Sorry to have to use Wikipedia.