Nomisma means 'something that exists by agreement'.
This is where our school gets its name.
The People Who Contemplated Money
Is it metal, or is it a promise? We will examine the debates of philosophers and thinkers alongside historical examples.
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 Debate Over What Money Is, in 3 Minutes
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A gold coin of the same name kept its purity for 700 years.
In the 11th century, the gold content secretly started to decrease.
Idea one: The value of money comes from the metal inside it.
In places where trust didn't reach, money reverted to being just metal.
Idea two: The value of money is decided by everyone's agreement.
In some towns, the balance in a ledger book itself became money.
Both ideas are powerful. One in situations where trust disappeared, the other where it was established.
The two ideas were looking at different sides of the same thing.
On the eve of 1948
The answer is: 'Money is a promise you can believe in'.
Paper backed by the state was rejected, while cigarettes, ordered by no one, were accepted.
2009
An experiment in money that doesn't belong to a country. But its price is measured in dollars.
It doesn't fit neatly into any box.
2In numbers
700years
The number of years the Nomisma gold coin maintained its purity.
3What would you do?
A country has lost a war. There's paper money officially backed by the state, and there are cigarettes, which no one has ordered to be money. Which would you accept as payment?
Pick one
Paper money backed by the state
The paper money, though officially backed by the state, wasn't trusted by the people. An order alone couldn't make it stand as money.
Cigarettes
In reality, cigarettes, which no one ordered to be money, became money. What people believed in was what passed as currency.
It's not about the metal, nor is it a state command. Money is a promise you can believe in. The 2000-year debate didn't end with a winner and a loser, but with the two ideas coming together.
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What you will understand after this course
- Can explain the origin of the 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.'
More about this course
Course number: F1
Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama
Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 2 coins · 4 readings How reading times are calculated
You will also understand
- Can treat the two positions not as a matter of victory or defeat, but as a question of their scope of application.
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
6 exercises in this course (4 check, 1 compare, 1 written). Progress is recorded by self-assessment.
The 6 chapters of this course
- 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.
- 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.
- The Metallist Argument — Content is EverythingCobs were stamped bullion; the Vikings looked only at weight. Metallism is supported by strong examples.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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: 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 NOMISMA. - 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
Read next
Gifts, Lending/Borrowing, and Money →What you learn next: Be able to explain that the barter origin theory of money is an 'unverified popular theory'.
Time to read the text: about 6 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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