Medals are struck like money, but you can't use them for payment.
They don't have to be accepted, so they're free to make a statement.
Medals, Stamps, Bills of Exchange, and Money
We will compare objects similar to coins and those used in their place to consider what fulfills the role of money.
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.
Money's Neighbors in 3 Minutes
1See it
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Bills of exchange, deposit slips, stocks. They are all paper that carries a promise.
A banknote is a promise to pay the person holding it.
1937
In a town where small change disappeared, people stuck stamps on cardboard to make money.
Paper for the mail passed from hand to hand, acting like money.
Stamps had a face value, were issued by the state, and had anti-counterfeiting measures.
They already met the requirements for small change.
A besieged city cut up silverware and made money from book covers.
The things they kept until the end were the face value and the words.
In Germany after the war, cigarettes became money without anyone ordering it.
Easy to count, divisible, durable, and everyone wants them.
The answer to 'Is this money?' depends on when, where, and what job it's doing.
You can't answer with a simple yes or no.
2What would you do?
All the small change has disappeared from your town. All you have are postage stamps. Could you use them instead of coins?
Pick one
No. Stamps are for postage.
During the civil war in Spain, 'stamp money' made by sticking stamps on cardboard actually passed from hand to hand.
Yes. They have a face value and are issued by the state.
That's right. Face value, state-issued, anti-counterfeiting measures, and small denominations. For postal reasons, stamps already met the requirements for small change.
Functions will switch containers when needed.
3Read more
What you will understand after this course
- Can explain the difference between medals and coins (the presence or absence of a payment function) and their commonality (the politics of their iconography).
- Can situate bills of exchange, securities, and stamp scrip as subjects within the "study of paper money and related items."
- Be able to analyze emergency money and substitute money as borderline cases.
More about this course
Course number: F8
Supervised by: Mitsuru Hayama
Beyond the text: 6 exercises · 1 coins · 4 readings How reading times are calculated
You will also understand
- Be able to use the method of determining "Is this money?" with a checklist of its functions.
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
- Metal that cannot be used for payment — An introduction to phaleristicsThe Geuzen medal is not a coin. But the politics of its imagery can be read with the same grammar as a coin.
- The study of paper instruments — from bills to securitiesBills of exchange, receipts for deposit, and share certificates are all paper that carries a promise. The study of paper instruments is the neighbor of numismatics on its paper side.
- The Day Stamps Became Money — A Record of IntersectionSmall pieces of paper for postage filled the void of small change. Function, if necessary, will switch its vessel.
- Coinage in a Besieged City — The Field of Emergency MoneyLozenge-shaped silver, paper from book covers. Emergency money became a specialized field that illuminates the essence of coinage.
- Tobacco, Shells, and Furs — A Catalogue of Substitute MoneyThings that became currency without being decreed by the state. Substitute money is a laboratory where the genesis of money can be observed.
- "Is This Money?" — A Method for Determining the BoundaryMeasure with an inventory of functions, and answer by adding time and place. Answer boundary questions not with a binary choice, but with coordinates.
Readings (4)
- The eve Netherlands 1566 The workshop of an engraver
Section 1. The free and radical assertion of unpayable metal. - Islam and India Overview: the world the 9th century The Origin of the Cheque
Section 2. A distant ancestor of the cheque. The eastern origin of the lineage of paper instruments. - The civil war Spain 1937 A town on the republican side
Section 3. A single piece contested by philately and numismatics. - The daalder crosses the sea Netherlands the 17th century The trading post at New Amsterdam
Section 5. Shells and furs for which an official rate was decreed.
Read next
Coin Provenance and Rules for Buying and Selling →What you learn next: You can explain what a piece with lost provenance has lost.
Time to read the text: about 9 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.
See the price →