The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece

by David Schaps

Coinage appeared at a moment when it fulfilled an essential need in Greek society and brought with it rationalization and social leveling in some respects, while simultaneously producing new illusions, paradoxes, and new elites. In a book that will encourage scholarly discussion for some time, David M. Schaps addresses a range of important coinage topics, among them money, exchange, and economic organization in the Near East and in Greece before the introduction of coinage; the invention of coinage and the reasons for its adoption; and the developing use of money to make more money.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Money, Economics

312 pages, Hardcover

First published December 11, 2003

Reviews

[Randy Allred]

For those curious about how the everyday money of coinage first got into society, this book is a good start.

[AskHistorians]

A useful and sane study of the development of currency and its role in Greek society.