7th–6th century BCE
In three separate lands, money was born at around the same time.
Lydia (West), China (East), and India (South)
The Origins of Money in Lydia, China, and India
We will compare the early coinage of the three regions to consider their commonalities and the extent to which they can be said to have been invented independently.
Time to read the text: about 6 min
The review questions are optional and not included in this time.
What you can read: the course opening and contents are free; the full text is for those who have purchased
After purchase, you can read the full text once your access starts.
The Beginning of Money in Three Lands: A 3-Minute Guide
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Around 600 BCE
The king of Lydia stamped a lion's seal on lumps of metal from a river.
A mark from the state, guaranteeing the weight and contents.
With the seal, people no longer had to weigh and check the metal every time.
The innovation in the West was the 'guarantee'.
China made coins with holes by pouring metal into molds. They were counted by stringing them together.
The innovation in the East was 'mass production and counting'.
6th century BCE
In India, they stamped small pieces of silver with many marks, like suns and animals.
The innovation in the South was 'overlapping marks'.
What they had in common wasn't the shape, but the need to trade with strangers.
All three had trade, cities, and the power to stamp marks.
Why at the same time? Was it a coincidence, were the conditions right, or did the idea spread?
Every theory has a wall that's hard to get past.
With current evidence, 'separate inventions' is the strongest theory. New discoveries could change that.
'Absence of evidence' is not 'evidence of absence'.
2In numbers
3lands
The lands where money was born. The materials, methods, and shapes were all different.
3What would you do?
There's a theory that the idea of money spread between the three lands. To test this theory, what would you look for first?
Pick one
Traces of it spreading in the areas between the three lands.
Exactly. This is the wall for this theory. If the idea had spread, there should be traces in the lands in between, but no such objects have been found.
Written records from the past.
The main obstacle mentioned in our lesson is physical evidence, rather than written records. If the idea had spread, there should be traces in the lands in between. Those haven't been found yet.
However, just because something hasn't been found doesn't prove it never existed. We won't jump to conclusions and will wait for new discoveries.
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What you will understand after this course
- Can explain the three inventions of coinage (Lydia, China, India), including the characteristic features of each form.
- Can cite, from concrete examples, the social conditions common to all three.
- Can compare explanatory hypotheses for synchronicity on a scale of verifiability.
More about this course
Course number: C01
Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama
Beyond the text: 7 exercises · 1 coins · 6 readings How reading times are calculated
You will also understand
- Can examine the very premise of "independent invention," along with the limitations of the evidence.
You can start this course without reading any other course.
If you want to know more about checking sources (optional)
- Is It Really True? Checking History
We re-examine the origins of money and famous anecdotes, comparing them with historical records and actual artifacts.
Assessment
7 exercises in this course (4 check, 1 compare, 2 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.
The 6 chapters of this course
- The West — A Mark by the RiverFrom striated metal pieces to the mark of the lion. The Western invention was the invention of the "guarantee."
- East — Coins that Jingle in a BagChina's invention was the cast coin. Strung through a hole, counted, and bundled—a shape optimized for "counting."
- South — The Marks of Punched Silver CoinsMany marks of the sun and animals on small pieces of silver. The invention of the South was a third form: the overlapping of punched marks.
- Finding Common Conditions — Similarities Among the Three LandsCities, trade, and states. Enumerating the conditions common to the three places of invention, within the scope of the course material.
- Theories on the Simultaneity — Candidate Answers and Their LimitsThe coincidence theory, the maturity of conditions theory, and the unknown diffusion theory. All of these theories stand before a wall of verifiability.
- Verifying "Independent Invention" — Questioning the PremiseCan we definitively say "independent"? The course concludes by turning a critical eye to the premise itself.
Readings (6)
- Islam and India Overview: the world the 6th–4th centuries BC India · Punch-Marked Silver
The thesis of this course. A paragraph declaring the simultaneity of three lands. - Before the beginning Overview: the world the later 7th century BC Blank Electrum
Section 1. The form of a Western invention before its completion. - Lydia Overview: the world 600 BC Lydia · Sardis
Section 1. The Moment of the Invention of the Guarantee - Gods and money Overview: the world from 2000 BC The Temple as Bank
Section 5. Temple Ledgers Operating Without Coinage—The Challenge to the Preconditions Theory - The Sixteen Kingdoms Strike Coinage India 6th century BCE Coinage of Magadha
This is material evidence that India, separately from the West, independently arrived at the same invention. Please observe that only the weight—thirty-two ratti, approximately 3.4 grams—remained constant across countries, eras, and workshops, and that the name of this silver, rupiya-rupa, would become the name of a currency eighteen hundred years later. - Money in the shape of tools China the 7th–3rd centuries BC The market of Linzi, capital of Qi
The answer produced by the third great land was bronze in the shape of a small knife. Please see the reason why this inconvenient shape, with some examples exceeding seventeen centimeters in length, nevertheless continued to be used for several hundred years. It is another kind of beginning, in which a tool became currency while remaining a tool.
Read next
The People Who Unified Nations and Changed Money →What you learn next: You can explain why a unifier lays hands on the coinage first.
Time to read the text: about 8 min ／ What you can read: the course opening and contents are free; the full text is for those who have purchased
Price
After purchase, the full courses, the illustrated books, every country’s story and the numismatics examination are open to you.
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