The oldest coin in the world: year of production, place of discovery, description, photo

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Currently no one can imagine life without money. But it was not always so. When did they enter people's lives? It is known for certain 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. A lot of research has been done by experts in this field 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 a way to pay for their needs.

What is the story about?

It proves with indisputable accuracy that the oldest coins in the world appeared in Asia Minor (approximately the territory of modern Turkey). Who created the first coin? What are the legends about its creation? You will learn the answers to these questions by reading the entire article.

Finding the very first coin in the world

“The Lydians were the first people who learned to mint and use silver and gold coins…” - reported Herodotus. What does this mean and who are the Lydians? Let's look into these issues. The thing is that the first coins in the world, the year of minting of which is not exactly known, are coins from the city of Lydia (Asia Minor).

Statir or stater is the first coin known to people. It was popular in ancient Greece from the 5th century BC. e. to the 1st century AD e. At the moment, it has been established that the coins were made precisely under the Lydian king Ardis, in 685 BC. e.

On the territory of their city, the inhabitants of Lydia discovered the richest deposit of a natural alloy of gold and silver. This alloy is called electrum, and gold staters began to be made from it.

One of the oldest coins in the world was sold at auction in 2012 in New York for 650 thousand dollars. Lydia was close to Greece, and due to this geographical location, there was some cultural similarity. Because of this, staters came into circulation in ancient Greece and neighboring states. Some sources claim that the oldest coins in the world were in circulation even among the ancient Celts.

The earliest staters that have survived to this day are very primitive. One side of the coin is blank, while the other shows the head of a roaring lion. The first stateir was found in Palestine and is approximately 2700-3000 years old. Below is a photo of the oldest coin in the world.

First silver coin

Lydian masters began to mint gold and silver coins and use them as a means of payment. This became possible thanks to new methods for the purification of valuable metals. The oldest pure silver coin in the world was discovered in Greece and minted in Aegina. These coins were also called Aegina drachmas. On one side of the piece of silver was a turtle - the symbol of the city of Aegina.

The minted Aegina coins quickly spread in 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 looked like a silver plate.

Then pieces of silver were very different from modern coins. They were very bulky and inconspicuous, some of them weighed about 6 grams, and on the front side there was only a sign of the city. On the reverse side of the coin, you can see traces of spikes that held the coin plate during minting.

Illinois coin

Some archaeologists claim that the legend of the Lydian coin (stater) is incorrect. World archeology knows a strange story about how an old metal plate similar to a coin was discovered in the United States, the age of which was only a few decades.

The story goes: in Illinois in 1870 on the Ridge Lawn while drilling an artesian wellone of the workers - Jacob Moffitt - stumbled upon a rounded copper alloy plate. The thickness and size of the plate resembled an American coin of that time, equal to 25 cents.

Appearance of a coin from Illinois

This coin could not be called primitive, as it looked quite interesting. On one of its sides two human figures were depicted: one large and wearing a headdress, and the other small. On the reverse side of the plate was an image of a strange animal, which curled up. It had huge eyes and a mouth, elongated pointed ears, a long tail and clawed feet.

Historians call this find a medallion or a coin. By the way, along the edges of the plate there were inscriptions similar to hieroglyphs that have not yet been deciphered.

First mention of a coin from Illinois

The earliest mention of this coin was made by Michigan geologist Alexander Winchell in his book Sparks from the Geologist's Hammer. He used in it information obtained from notes made by an eyewitness to the find, William Wilmot, in 1871.

In 1876, Professor Winchell introduced the plate to the world at a meeting of the American Association. Many geologists considered this act a hoax and thought that this coin was nothing but a fake.

Now, unfortunately, it is impossible to confirm or deny the authenticity of this find, since it has not survived to this day. All that remains of her is a description and a sketch.

The oddity of this story is thatthat some of the 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 200 thousand years old. It turns out that civilization already existed in America then? Even so, it is unlikely that the 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 spool. It began to be minted in Kyiv in the 10th-11th centuries after the Baptism of Russia 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 dating back to 912. The oldest coins in the world are only 11 pieces.

The first spool was purchased by G. Bunge in Kyiv in 1796 from a soldier who received the coin from his mother. In 1815, the spool was purchased and lost by Mogilyansky. Initially, gold coins were considered analogues of Bulgarian or Serbian coins of Byzantine minting. 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.

Famous finds of pieces of silver and gold coins

The news that gold coins and silver coins were still of ancient Russian origin cast doubt on the entire collection of Byzantine coins inHermitage. Four gold coins were found near Pinsk. Every year the number of pieces of silver found increased, and this served as clear evidence of the existence of a 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. Every year the number of silver coins found increased and, thanks to this, more and more private collections appeared.

Zlatnik appearance

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. A trident was depicted on top - a characteristic sign of the Rurik family. Around the circle was an inscription in Cyrillic, which read: Vladimir on the throne.

On the back of the coin was depicted the figure of Christ, in whose left hand was the Gospel, and the right was in a blessing position. Around the circle, as well as on the front side, there was also an inscription: Jesus Christ.

Physical characteristics of goldfish

The diameter of the spool was 19-24 mm, and the weight was about 4-4.5 g. All currently known zlatniks were minted with coin dies connected to each other. The size of the imprint for the front side of the coin corresponded to the stamp for the reverse side.

Currently 6 pairs of stamps are known. The inscriptions and images on them are very carefully made, and in the same style. However, each stamp is different. According to the descriptions, it is known that three pairs of stamps were apparently made by the samehuman, as they are very carefully done.

The next pair is rather rough, with a letter missing from the inscription on the front. The remaining two pairs of stamps, in all likelihood, 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 Christ's hands was changed. The letters of the inscription are also not quite right, not like in previous versions of the spools.

Interesting facts

Next, consider some of the historical events associated with the first ancient Russian coin:

1. The coin plates were cast using collapsible minting molds, as can be seen from the appearance of the spools.
2. The average weight of a spool is 4.2 g, later this value was taken as the basis of a weight unit in ancient Russia.
3. The appearance of Russian coins contributed to the revival of cultural and trade relations with Byzantium.
4. Vladimir's spools were modeled on Byzantine solids made under Emperors Constantine VIII and Basil II. Zlatniks were similar to Byzantine solidi in their weight and the location of the pattern on the coin plate.
5. In 1988, the 1000th anniversary of ancient Russian coinage was celebrated, in honor of this event, a gold coin with the image of Prince Vladimir was issued.
6. The minting of gold coins lasted only a few years during the life of Prince Vladimir, and after his death it never resumed.

The use of ancient Russian coins has exclusively commercial meaning, because as an object of ritual,a gift or award has never been used.