Ancient Coins: The FIRST Coin

We go all the way back, to the FIRST coin ever.
In this video, lets go over some of the basic concepts about money, how coins represent a step up from just doing commerce with metals, and look at some cool historical facts about the birth of coinage.

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[samu]

Nice, I am getting a Miletos hekte soon, with the striated obverse symbolizing the river the electrum was found in. Very interesting and great video! :D

[slavi]

Your videos have really guided my entry into numismatics, thank you!

[jadenephrite]

Thank you for your video. Regarding 4:29, the gold content in Electrum from ancient Lydia varied considerably. Eventually the Gold Parting Process was invented which could separate Gold & Silver from Electrum and enabled Gold coins and Silver coins to be minted separately. The Electrum separation process was known as Salt Cementation whereby Electrum was combined with salt, urine and brick dust (or pulverized pottery shards), sealed in a crucible and heated. Pure Gold would remain in the crucible along with Silver Chloride which would later be purified into Silver. To convert Silver Chloride into Silver, mix the Silver Chloride into an aqueous solution with some Lye and then some Sugar. Then pure silver powder will precipitate to the bottom of the container. Thereafter melt the silver powder into bullion. Silver coins could then be minted from silver bullion.

[hridgreximp]

It’s amazing that these have survived to the modern day. Really a great piece of history!

[limaechonumismatics]

I like to imagine the bumpy surface is to add grip. They’re so small and smooth they must have been dropping them all the time!

[Numischannel]

Excellent video Leo. I am convinced that the very first coins were privately minted; in which case it must have been the jewellers the very first to mint coins. They had the knowledge, technology (precision scales) and the interest to produce them; later the State (king, city, etc.) took over the invention, just as it happened with paper-money.

[sanpedrosilver]

Your videos are some of the best !
Appreciate you sharing your knowledge with us 🤜🏻🤛🏼
Cheers!

[isabelcrb]

Very interesting! I am actually surprised why older civilizations didnt get to invent coinage sooner, such as the egyptians.

[svyatoslav]

1:20 hystorian: you are the worst mesopotamian copper merchant that i hear of
Ea Sparrow Nasir: but you still heard of me

[artemisarrow]

It’s incredible how these coins chronicle our history as a species

[ypanso]

ty Im a master student at preserving material heritage and this helps a lot in my work where I study ancient coins, i searched for phenician coins and this was on the top of the list and its a great background info

[mrsmitty]

My oldest coin is a trajan denarius, been thinking of splurging and buying an Athenian owl tetradrachm to take the new oldest coin spot.

[crkcrk]

Very interesting video. My oldest coins are my Athenian Owl, my Alexander III Lifetime Issue Tet and my Lysimachos Tet, in that order.

[funkas]

Incredibly well structured and rich information. A very good video that deserves attention.

[andrewmacomber]

Nice! My oldest coin is a 1923 peace dollar. It’s worn almost smooth. My Dad told me his uncle would always carry a “pocket silver”. No way for me varify it’s the same one his uncle had. Idea: 💡Can you do a YT post about this old tradition of a “pocket silver”? It might be interesting. Thanks. ✌🏻❤️🇺🇸🥈

[ickster]

My oldest piece is an Olbian dolphin cica 500BC. I have some Celtic "ring money", but the date is unknown and can be widley varied and whether it is proto money at all is still being debated.

[markp]

I wish there were more of these and they were cheaper. My oldest is probably a Carradice Type 3 Persian Siglos. Or a fractional piece from Miletos with a lion and an incuse. With coins that old there is a lot of overlap making it hard to say which is older.

[MichaelMatthys-pm]

My earliest coin is a Lydian silver lion/bull piece. I don't know if it is a Stater or a division thereof. I don't know either if it is Lydian or early Persian, but I watched your "detect fakes" video and believe it is genuine. Thank you for this video. I already knew what you said in it, but you expressed it very clearly and very well.

[creationsxl]

Great coin, very cool Kanye. My oldest (and only) coin is a bronze AS of Domitian and I got it because of your videos so thank you very much x keep the vids coming!

[kelvyquayo]

Told In Stone made me sub here or I don’t get my barley ration. Subbed