Money, myths and might.
Text: Christoph Dieffenbacher
The oldest coins in the Mediterranean were found in what is now western Turkey, but the circulation of coinage was not ubiquitous in the ancient world. Rather, bartering was the dominant economic system, particularly in times of crisis.
In the hand, the silver coin feels pleasantly cool and heavier than expected. This silky-smooth didrachm from Syracuse is around 2,500 years old. In comparison, the Carthaginian copper coin of the same size weighs slightly less. Originally found in Sicily, these two artifacts form part of a small collection that Marco Vitale, Professor of Ancient History, shows to his students. Vitale is a numismatist — in other words, he studies coins and their history.
“Coins offered clear advantages over the exchange of commodities,” says Vitale in his office at the Department of Ancient Civilizations. Payment was otherwise made in “currencies” such as sheep, cattle and cereals — but these were difficult to compare with one another as a measure of value. In contrast, coins made of gold, silver and bronze alloys were considered more durable and more versatile: “Their value could simply be determined from their weight.” Coins could be weighed, transported, broken up and melted down again — and therefore represented a major advance over bartering.
A king by the name of Croesus
The earliest known coins in the ancient world appeared in Lydia, in present-day western Turkey, in the seventh century B.C. This is the same area where the legendary King Croesus, who was famed for his wealth, is said to have hoarded his treasures — as later reported by the chronicler Herodotus. Similar means of payment were also attested in China and India, where trade often used mussel and snail shells in addition to polygonal and circular metal coins, often with holes created in them for easy threading on a string.
In some regions, such as Gaul, coins were initially used in worship or as objects of prestige. “It’s no coincidence, however, that most coins are found along major trade routes, from where they spread rapidly — the Silk Road from China or, in the Roman Empire, around the Mediterranean Sea,” says Vitale. Individual states increasingly began prospecting for metals in mines and minting money, which they used to pay their soldiers and collect taxes in the form of coins. If necessary, the production of coins could be increased at will.
Minting coins brought prestige
Eventually, there were such large quantities of coins circulating in the trading hubs of antiquity that the situation became confusing. Exchange offices therefore converted foreign coins into local currencies, and even small towns that wanted to participate in long-distance trade would issue their own coinage. The logic was that if you wanted to be someone in the ancient world, you had to be minting coins.
Nevertheless, coinage wasn’t a ubiquitous feature of antiquity. “Self-sufficiency and bartering were and remained the most important economic systems,” says Vitale, “particularly in local markets.” Especially in times of crisis, the money economy even contracted — following the death of Alexander the Great, for example, or during the Roman Imperial Crisis in the third and fourth centuries. These periods were characterized by long wars, political instability, rising prices and hyperinflation: “During crises, people lost their faith in money.” Rome temporarily reduced the silver content of its coins to three percent. Imitations and forgeries entered circulation more often — and matters were compounded by marauding legions that marched through the Empire.
One of the questions in Vitale’s research into ancient numismatics relates to the symbolic meaning of money. What was depicted on the coins? Coinage often carried likenesses of animals such as lions, snakes, owls and bees: creatures that were at once dangerous and useful and that captured the human imagination. Other popular subjects included local deities, mythical scenes, buildings, and plants such as date palms.
Fake news on coins
Circulating in almost all social strata, coins often served as status symbols for rulers. This was one way that many Roman emperors could immortalize themselves — as coins bearing their name and likeness would pass from person to person. “At the same time, however, the political elites also used coins as propaganda,” says Vitale. For example, he was able to prove that in around 210 A.D., the Romans minted coins that spread a false narrative of victory — specifically, of legionnaires who crossed a river in present-day Scotland to conquer the territory of the northern Celtic tribes. This was actually fake news. In reality, the defeated Roman soldiers had been forced to fall back behind Hadrian’s Wall for safety.
As is the case today, one metal was particularly prized in antiquity: “Gold coins were seen as a symbol of the sun’s rays and of divinity, power and immortality,” says Vitale. “Gold is stable in value, denser than silver and copper, doesn’t corrode, and is almost impossible to falsify.” Archaeological finds show that large quantities of heavy, valuable gold bars were transported on ancient ships. Gold’s spell remains unbroken to this day, although digital payments have now become the norm for bills and shopping.
As well as teaching at the university, Vitale also researches historic coins — although he doesn’t take part in many archaeological excavations. Instead, he works primarily on the computer, searching catalogs around the world for ancient coins that come onto the market, including the art market: “New things are always popping up.” When they do, he researches the coins in greater detail and attempts to interpret and classify the finds.
In his private life, the coin expert has something of a detached relationship with money — and with capitalist economic thought in general. For him, it isn’t all about being rich, but he is troubled by the huge disparities in global wealth. In this light, he can fully understand the subversively naive question attributed to the Munich comedian Karl Valentin (1882–1948): “Who actually invented money, and why so little of it?”
More articles in this issue of UNI NOVA (May 2026).