history

The Silver Shekel

phoenician-silver-shekel

Key Takeaways The silver shekel is the most ancient form of precious metal money in recorded history. Its origins lie in Ancient Sumer where it was a reserve currency and a standard pricing measure. The silver shekel is also mentioned in the Book of Genesis as a measure of weight. So on both accounts it’s

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A History of Silver Certificates

silver-certificate-1878

Key Takeaways Silver certificates are a historic form of currency in the United States, issued between 1878 and 1965. Originally able to be exchanged for silver bullion, they are still legal tender, but can no longer be converted into the precious metal. Today, silver certificates are likely to have a collectible value that far exceeds

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A Brief History of Bimetallism

bimetallism

Bimetallism is a monetary system where both gold and silver are money, and the critical thing is the ratio between the two. Before we had the fiat standard, we had the gold standard. And before we had the gold standard, we had bimetallism. It is an ancient monetary system that continued until relatively recently. It

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A Brief History of Gold Coins

The yellow metal’s early history wasn’t in gold coins but in big lumps of uncoined metal. Various forms of commodity money had been used up to that point but gold emerged as the superior option. However in its uncoined form, trade using gold as money was inefficient as merchants had to assess the weight and

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The 12 Most Beautiful Gold Coins: Stunning Designs From History

most-beautiful-gold-coins

World history has certainly served up some beautiful gold coins. Gold became money because it was scare, malleable, durable, portable, divisible and fungible. Beauty wasn’t one of the requirements, but nevertheless it certainly helps gold’s timeless appeal. I must admit, my bias is towards the modern coins. I love the ancient coins for their history

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Longest Lasting Fiat Currency

british-pound

The longest lasting fiat currency in history is the Great British Pound. The pound dates back to 928, making it the oldest currency still in use, although it has only been a fully fledged fiat currency since 1971. Initially defined as a weight of silver, the pound became a fiat currency briefly in 1745 due

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