People started to use other means of payment instead of the goods itself they could exchange for another goods. They used the material such as seashells, beads, tea, fish hooks, fur, cattle and even tobacco. The real coinage as a replacement of the older barter system and as a mean of payment was taken in the real life in the seventh century BC. Where were the coins invented?

People who made and used the coins for the first time in the history of the human race were seafaring people of the old Lydia – the modern western Turkey. At first, there was a design only on one of the sides. In most cases the design depicted an animal. The other side of the coin had a punch mark. It was made of the electrum – the naturally occurring alloy of gold and silver. These coins were handmade. Each coin, or better to say metal, was placed between two dies and then the design was engraved by pressing the dies with a hammer. They were the world’s first true coins because they were made of a scarce metal and were of a consistent weight. Coinage then quickly spread out. Within some hundred years the design was engraved on both sides.

What were the coins in ancient Greece and Roman Empire like?

Coins began to be used in ancient Greece as well as in the Roman Empire. Coins of these times had a magnificent artistic value. The best engravers worked on the production of the coins. Some of the dies were even signed by a master engraver. The designs depicted the ideally proportioned human body. This concept was typical for Greek classical art. Alexander the Great (336-323 BC) spread out the concept of coinage through the lands he conquered. His successors founded the great Hellenistic empires. They introduced the concept of the realistic depiction on their coinage. Romans continued with this concept. In some cases they depicted the progression of the emperor from childhood to maturity. As the Romans became dominant the coins were produced in numerous amounts. Later in the first century BC, their coins depicted the emperor, his name and a title on the obverse side and gods or colonies they had conquered on the other side. By the fall of the Rome in the fifth century AD, the artwork on the coinage became a little bit cartoonish. This is thought as the end point of the ancient coins.

What was the influence of Christianity on the design of coins?
The rise of Byzantine Empire in the east heralded the beginning of the medieval age. God was worshipped by Christians and the church became the main force in the empire. The depiction on the coinage became stylised as well.