Lydia: THE BIRTHPLACE OF COINAGE

For thousands of years, people acquired and exchanged goods through a barter system. Early forms of money, to make large transactions quicker and more efficient, included objects such as shells and oxen, but these were found to be cumbersome and not durable. Eventually, gold, silver and bronze ingots were exchanged by weight.

- TIMOTHY M. RYAN

Once metal arrived as a medium of exchange, there were advantages to using it. It was more durable. It held its value better and could be divided into exact amounts and fractions. The early monetary system was time-consuming however and required constant weighing and testing for purity to determine value.

THE FIRST COINS 

None of these earlier forms of money outlasted the invention of the coin. According to the historian Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to use coins and the first to install retail shops in permanent locations. Situated between the Greeks to the West and the Persians to the East, the ancient Kingdom of Lydia existed from about 1200 to 546 B.C. Lydia included most of what is now modern-day Turkey in western Asia. It occupied the Anatolia peninsula, exposing its coastline to the Black and Mediterranean Seas. Its coastline, as well as Greek colonies in this area, led to a flourishing trade between these people that brought wealth and prosperity to the region. Evidence indicates heavy Greek influence over the Lydians and the intermingling of their cultures endured for hundreds of years.

KING ALYATTES I