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The three most important standards of the ancient Greek monetary system were the Attic standard, based on the Athenian drachma of 4.3 grams (2.8 pennyweights) of silver, the Corinthian standard based on the stater of 8.6 g (5.5 dwt) of silver, that was subdivided into three silver drachmas of 2.9 g (1.9 dwt), and the Aeginetan stater or didrachm of 12.2 g (7.8 dwt), based on a drachma of 6.1 g ...
Gold coins were almost continually produced by the Byzantines and medieval Arabs. These circulated in Western European trade in smallish numbers, originating from the coinage mints of the Eastern Mediterranean. In Western Europe, the gold coins of Byzantine currency were highly prized. These gold coins were commonly called bezants.
Coins or currency which must be accepted in payment of debt. legend The principal inscription on a coin. [1] lettered edge The outside edge of a coin containing an inscription. [1] low relief A coin with the raised design not very high above the field. luster The appearance of a coin's ability to reflect light; brilliance.
The coin, usually made of silver or sometimes gold [2] had its origins in a bartering system that referred to a drachma as a handful of wooden spits or arrows. [3] The drachma was unique to each city state that minted them, and were sometimes circulated all over the Mediterranean. [ 4 ]
Italy has a long history of different coinage types, which spans thousands of years. Italy has been influential at a coinage point of view: the medieval Florentine florin, one of the most used coinage types in European history and one of the most important coins in Western history, [1] was struck in Florence in the 13th century, while the Venetian sequin, minted from 1284 to 1797, was the most ...
The modern dinar's historical antecedents are the gold dinar and the silver dirham, the main coin of the medieval Islamic empires, first issued in AH 77 (696–697 AD) (Late Antiquity) by Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan. The word "dinar" derives from the Latin word "dēnārius," a silver coin of ancient Rome, which was first minted about c. 211 BC.
Double-die style struck coin from Ancient India, c 304-232 BCE featuring an elephant on one face and a lion on the other. Since that time, coins have been the most universal embodiment of money. These first coins were made of electrum, a naturally occurring pale yellow mixture of gold and silver that was further alloyed with silver and copper.
The Arabs introduced their own coins. The Islamic dirham was 8 daniq. [6] The dirham was struck in many Mediterranean countries, including Al-Andalus (Moorish Spain) and the Byzantine Empire (miliaresion), and could be used as currency in Europe between the 10th and 12th centuries, notably in areas with Viking connections, such as Viking York ...