Date of Award
6-2018
Document Type
Open Access
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Classics
Second Department
Economics
First Advisor
Hans-Friedrich Otto Mueller
Second Advisor
Lewis Davis
Third Advisor
Brad Lewis
Language
English
Keywords
Money, Early Money, Coinage, Coins, Greece, Lydia, Sparta, Monetary History
Abstract
The spread of coins, which occurred throughout the archaic and classical periods of Greece, was a foundational advancement toward forms of the modern economy. Modern theory has sought to explain the invention of coins with a variety of narratives. Generally, these narratives fall into two broad categories: market-driven monetization or state-driven monetization. On the one hand, some theory argues that coins developed from reducing private transaction costs. On the other hand, some theorists argue that the state benefitted from reductions in administrative costs from the use of coins and therefore undertook the cost of minting them. This thesis problematizes these two models and shows that neither of these explanations is satisfactory for understanding early coins. In fact, these theories introduce biases because they were constructed from analysis of modern money systems. Coinage was likely driven by the religious sector of the ancient state rather than by practical benefit. Moreover, the state adopted early coins despite the increased transaction costs they would have caused. The political and social gain outweighed the economic cost of their minting. This reassessment allows for a framework from which we may understand early coinage.
Recommended Citation
Kailey, Francis Louis, "Extraordinary Episodes of Ancient Money" (2018). Honors Theses. 1580.
https://digitalworks.union.edu/theses/1580
Included in
Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, Classical Literature and Philology Commons, Economic History Commons, Economic Theory Commons, Political Economy Commons