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Closed currency area

閉鎖通貨圏　—　Institutions

A system in which only a dedicated local currency circulates within a region. Egypt under Roman rule maintained this for about 300 years.

Cistophorus of Pergamon Cistophorus of Pergamonc. 160–150 BC
A photograph of what this word names.

A system where only a dedicated currency is legal tender within a region, requiring exchange at the border. The profit from the exchange rate difference becomes revenue for the issuing authority. Ptolemaic Egypt established it, and Rome inherited it without dismantling it; the mint of Alexandria continued to strike tetradrachms with reduced silver content.

⚠ Around 296 AD, the monetary reform of Emperor Diocletian integrated this area into the imperial currency system, effectively bringing the ancient drachma-denominated coinage to an end.