Philosophy and Intellectual History of Coinage

F1　—　Adjacent Disciplines

This is the course that explains the origin of our school's name. Nomisma, which Aristotle called 'that which exists by nomos (law/convention)'. Metal or promise—we trace a two-thousand-year intellectual confrontation.

Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama　／　Reading time (main text): About 7 min (3,261 characters of text at 500 chars/min; exercises and readings not included)　／　Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 2 coins · 4 readings

What this course teaches you to do

• Can explain the origin of the school's name, Nomisma (that which is born from Nomos).
• Can state the claims of Metallism and Chartalism, each supported by historical facts.
• Can trace the history of the proposition that 'money is a trusted promise.'
• Can treat the two positions not as a matter of victory or defeat, but as a question of their scope of application.

Lessons (6)

1. What is Born from Nomos — The Origin of the School's NameThe value of money comes not from nature but from convention. An insight from two thousand three hundred years ago became the name of this school.
2. An Idea Made Metal — The Byzantine NomismaThe real gold coin of the same name stood for seven hundred years on its purity. Ironically, as a representative of metallism.
3. The Metallist Argument — Content is EverythingCobs were stamped bullion; the Vikings looked only at weight. Metallism is supported by strong examples.
4. The Chartalist Argument — The convention is everything.The name became independent of the metal, and ledger balances became money. The side of agreement also has strong historical examples.
5. The Answer from the Ruins — Money is a Promise That Can Be TrustedThe answer from the country that saw every way money can die was not metal or command, but a promise.
6. The Unending Question — The Current State of the History of ThoughtEven the experiment of a stateless currency stood on the yardstick of the dollar. The question of Nomisma remains open.

Readings (4)

• Byzantium　Overview: 2,700 years of the world　the 11th century　The Twilight of the Nomisma
  Section 2. The glory and decline of a real gold coin that shared its name with the school.
• When tobacco was money　Germany　1947–1948　A ruined city, the eve of the reform
  Section 5. The conclusion from the ruins, folding a two-thousand-year confrontation into a single line.
• The Carolus guilder　Netherlands　1521–1543　The seventeen provinces, upon the ledger
  Section 4. The quietest, strongest case for chartalism
• The digital shore　United States　2009　Upon the internet
  Section 6. The question today: even challengers use the dollar as their yardstick

Assessment

6 exercises in this course (4 check, 1 compare, 1 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.