The Origin of Metallic Currency and Weight Standards

[1] Metrologische Untersuchungen über Gewichte, Münzfüsse und Masse des Alterthums in ihrem Zusammenhange. Berlin, 1838.

[2] χρύσεα χαλκείων, ἑκατόμβοι’ ἐννεαβοίων.

[3] Iliad, XXIII. 750.

[4] Victor A. L. Morier, Murray’s Magazine, August, 1889, p. 181.

[5] Trans-Caucasia, p. 410 (Engl. trans. 1854).

[6] Pollux, IX. 73, τὸ παλαιὸν δὲ τοῦτ’ ἦν Ἀθηναίοις νόμισμα καὶ ἐκαλεῖτο βοῦς, ὅτι βοῦν εἶχεν ἐντετυπωμένον. εἰδέναι δ’ αὐτὸ καὶ Ὅμηρον νομίζουσιν εἰπόντα ἑκατόμβοι’ ὲννεαβοίων.

[7] Cf. Aesch. Agam. 36; Theognis 815. Cp. τὰν ἀρετὰν καὶ τὰν σοφίαν νικᾶντι χελῶναι, a proverb (given by Pollux IX. 74) alluding to the Tortoise coins of Aegina; and Menander (Al. 1), παχὺς γὰρ ὗς ἔκειτ’ ἐπὶ στόμα.

[8] ἡ γλαῦξ ἐπὶ χαράγματος ἢ τετραδράχμου, ὡς Φιλόχορος· ἐκλήθη δὲ τὸ νόμισμα τὸ τετράδραχμον τότε [ἡ] γλαῦξ· ἦν γὰρ ἡ γλαῦξ ἐπίσημον καὶ πρόσωπον Ἀθηνᾶς, τῶν προτέρων διδράχμων ὄντων, ἐπίσημον δὲ βοῦν ἐχόντων.

[9] Plutarch, Solon, c. 15.

[10] Hultsch, Reliquiae Scriptorum Metrologicorum, I. 301, τὸ δὲ γαρ’ Ὁμήρῳ τάλαντον ἴσον ἐδύνατο τῷ μετὰ ταῦτα Δαρεικῷ. ἄγει δ’ οὖν τὸ χρυσοῦν τάλαντον Ἀττικὰς δραχμὰς β’, γράμματα ζ’, τετάρτας δηλαδὴ τεσσάρας.

[11] Iliad, XVIII. 507, 8,

See Appendix A for a linguistic proof that the two talents were for the Judge.

[12] Ancient Law, p. 375.

[13]

[14] Od. I. 430.

[15] Iliad, IX. 12 seqq.

[16] Il. XXIII. 262 seqq.

[17] Of course amongst the lowest races of savages such as the aborigines of Australia, even barter is almost unknown. Each man makes his own stone implements from the greenstone which is everywhere in abundance, his own clubs and boomerangs, whilst Nature supplies all his other wants.

[18] Whymper’s Alaska, p. 225.

[19] Morier, Murray’s Magazine, August, 1889, p. 181.

[20] Jevons, Money, p. 24.

[21] Tribes of California, p. 21.

[22] Op. cit., p. 335.

[23] Clavigero, Hist. of Mexico, Vol. I. 386.

They counted the Cacao nuts by 8000 and to save the trouble of counting them they reckoned them by sacks, every sack being reckoned to contain 24,000. Cf. Prescott, Conquest of Mexico, Vol. I. p. 44.

[24] G. M. Dawson, ‘Report on the Queen Charlotte Islands, 1878,’ p. 135 B (Geological Survey of Canada), Montreal, 1880.

[25] F. Magnússon, Nordiske Tidskrift for Oldkyndighed, II. 112.

[26] Wanderings in a Wild Country, or Three Years among the Cannibals of New Britain (London, 1883), p. 55.

[27] For shell money in the Caroline Islands cf. Kubary’s Ethnographische Beiträge zur Kenntnis des Karolinen Archipels (Leipzig, 1889); in the Pelew Islands cf. Karl Semper, Die Pelau Inseln (Leipzig, 1873), p. 60; and for shell money in general cf. R. Stearn’s Ethno-conchology (Washington, 1889).

[28] Jevons, Money, 25.

[29] Terrien de la Couperie, Coins and Medals, p. 193.

[30] Terrien de la Couperie, Coins and Medals, p. 199.

[31] Yule’s Translation, Vol. II. p. 70.

[32] Gill, River of Golden Sand, II. p. 77.

[33] Yule’s Translation, Vol. II. p. 45.

[34] So the Irish sed, the most general name for chattel, originally meant simply an ox.

[35] Cochin-Chine Française. Excursions et Reconnaissances, XIII. (1877), p. 296-8.

[36] Excursions et Reconnaissances, XIII. No. 30 (1887), p. 296-304.

[37] M. Aymonier, Cochin-Chine. Excursions et Reconnaissances, Vol. X. No. 24 (1885), pp. 233 seqq.

[38] Ibid. p. 317.

[39] Rig-Veda, Mandala, VII. 90. 6, VIII. 67. 1-2, VI. 47, 23-4.

[40] Vendidâd, Fasgard, VII. 41 (Darmesteter’s translation in Sacred Books of the East).

[41] Vendidâd, Fasgard, IX. 37.

[42] Ibid. IV. 2.

[43] Hakluyt Society, 1857, p. 35.

[44] For larins cf. Prof. Rhys Davids, “On the Ancient Coins and Measures of Ceylon” (Numismata Orientalia, Vol. I. 68-73). Mr Rhys Davids makes no mention of the bronze fish-hooks, but there are a number of them in the British Museum.

[45] I am indebted to the kindness of Mr A. Galetly of the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art for the drawing from which the figure here shown is reproduced, as also for the drawing of the Calabar wire money and West African axe money figured lower down. My friend Mr J. G. Frazer (one out of countless kindnesses) called my attention to all three objects.

[46] Haxthausen, Transkaukasia II. p. 30 (Engl. Trans. p. 409).

[47] Il. XXIII. 485.

[48] Oecon. II. 21.

[49] II. 18.

[50] Annals of the Four Masters, Anno 106 A.D. (O’Donovan’s ed.).

[51] Ancient Laws of Wales, p. 795.

[52] O’Donovan’s Supplement to O’Reilly, s.v. Lacht: Senchus Mor, I. 287.

[53] Thorpe, Laws of the Anglo-Saxons, I. 357. Cunningham, History of English Commerce, I. 117.

[54] Illud notandum est quales debent solidi esse Saxonum: id est, bovem annoticum utriusque sexus, autumnali tempore, sicut in stabulum mittitur, pro uno solido: similiter et vernum tempus, quando de stabulo exiit; et deinceps, quantum aetatem auxerit, tantum in pretio crescat. De annona vero bortrinis pro solido uno scapilos quadraginta donant et de sigule viginti. Septemtrionales autem pro solidum scapilos triginta de avena et sigule quindecim. Mel vero pro solido bortrensi, sigla una et medio donant. Septemtrionales autem duos siclos de melle pro uno solido donent. Item ordeum mundum sicut et sigule pro uno solido donent. In argento duodecim denarios solidum faciant. Et in aliis speciebus ad istum pretium omnem aestimationem compositionis sunt. Capitulare Saxonicum, II. Migne, XCVII. 202.

[55] Schive and Holmboe, Norges Mynter (Christiania, 1865), pp. I.-III.

[56] G. Hoffmann, Zeitschrift für Assyriologie, Vol. II. (1887) p. 48.

[57] Schliemann, Mycenae, and Tiryns, p. 354.

[58] Il. XVIII. 401 πόρπας τε, γναμπτάς θ’ ἕλικας, κάλυκάς τε, καὶ ὅρμους.

[59] Homer. Epos, 279-281 (2nd ed.).

[60] Hesychius s.v. ἕλικες explains them as earrings (ἐνώτια), or armlets, anklets (ψέλλια), or rings (δακτύλιοι). Eustathius on Iliad XVIII. 400 explains them as ἐνώτια ἢ ψέλλια παρὰ τὸ εἰς κύκλον ἑλίσσεσθαι, “earrings or armlets (anklets), so called from being rolled up” (helissesthai). Cp. Ebeling, Lexicon Homericum, s.v. ἕλιξ.

[61] Keary, Catalogue of Anglo-Saxon Coins, I. p. vii. From beag Mr Max Müller derives buy in spite of a phonetic difficulty.

[62] Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are in the collection of my friend Mr R. Day, F.S.A., of Cork. The others are in my own possession.

[63] Journal of Hellenic Studies, Vol. X. Here is the description and weight of the rings (which I have been enabled to figure by the kindness of Mr John Murray):

[64] Cf. Keary’s Catalogue of English Coins in the British Museum, p. 6.

[65] Strabo iii. p. 155. ἀντὶ δὲ νομίσματος οἱ λίαν ἐν βάθει φορτίων ἀμοιβῇ χρώνται ἢ τοῦ ἀργύρου ἐλάγματος ἀποτέμνοντες διδόασιν.

[66] Gordon Lang, Travels in Western Africa (1825), Prefatory Note.

[67] The specimen figured was brought home about 30 years ago and is now in the Edinburgh Museum of Science and Art.

[68] The specimens here figured are in the splendid collection of my friend Mr R. Day, of Cork.

[69] This information I owe to Lieut. Troup.

[70] I am indebted to Messrs James Booth and Co. for this information.

[71] Dapper Description de l’Afrique (Amsterdam, 1686) p. 367. “Le bois rouge de Majumba et la pao de Hiengo de Benguela tiennent aussi le lieu de monnaie: on en coupe des morceaux d’un pied de long; on leur met une certaine taxe selon laquelle le prix des vivres se règle.”

[72] Peter Kolben, Present state of the Cape of Good Hope, p. 262.

[73] R. W. Felkin, “Notes on the Madi or Moru Tribe of Central Africa,” Transactions of Royal Society of Edinburgh, Vol. XII. p. 303 seqq.

[74] Voyage au Darfour, Mohammed Ibn Omar el Tounsy (translated by Perron), Paris, 1845, pp. 218, 315.

[75] Voyage au Darfour, p. 316.

[76] Ibid. p. 319.

[77] Voyage au Darfour, p. 321.

[78] Voyage au Ouadai, Mohammed Ibn Omar el Tounsy (French translation by Perron), p. 559.

[79] Elliot’s Alaska, p. 8. This is an interesting parallel to the ancient tradition that the Carthaginians employed leather money. (Vide Smith’s Dict. of Geogr. I. 545.)

[80] Il. XXIII. 826.

[81] Il. XXIV. 230-2.

[82] Timaeus 12.

[83] B. G. v. 12.

[84] 199.

[85] Schrader. Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples, p. 260.

[86] Odyssey, XXIII. 198.

[87] Cunningham, Hist. of English Commerce, I. p. 117.

[88] Il. XXI. 41.

[89] Od. XV. 460.

[90] Prescott, Mexico, p. 234.

[91] Schrader, p. 255.

[92] Schrader, op. cit. p. 255.

[93] Polybius II. 19.

[94] W. Deecke, Etrusk. Forschungen, p. 5.

[95] Herod. IV. 49.

[96] Ausland, 1873, No. 39.

[97] Arist. Θαυμ. 833 b. 14, φασὶ δὲ ἐν τοῖς Βάκτροις τὸν Ὦξον ποταμὸν καταφέρειν βωλία χρυσίου πλήθει πολλά.

[98] Herod. IV. 18.

[99] Herod. III. 116, λέγεται δὲ ὑπὲκ τῶν γρυπῶν ἁρπάζειν Ἀριμάστους ἄνδρας μουνοφθάλμους.

For the gold-fields of India, cf. Dr Valentine Ball’s excellent chapter (IV.) in his Geology of India.

[100] Herod. IV. 25.

[101] Herod. IV. 71, ἀργύρῳ δὲ οὐδὲν οὐδὲ χαλκῷ χρέωνται.

[102] Strabo, XI. p. 499, παρὰ τούτοις δὲ λέγεται καὶ χρυσὸν καταφέρειν τοὺς χειμάρρους, ὑποδέχεσθαι δ’ αὐτὸν τοὺς βαρβάρους φάνταις κατατετρημέναις καὶ μαλλωταῖς δοραῖς· ἀφ’ οὖ δὴ μεμυθεῦσθαι καὶ τὸ χρυσόμαλλον δέρος.

[103] Strabo, XIV. p. 680.

[104] Herod. I. 93, πάρεξ τοῦ ἐκ τοῦ Τμώλου καταφερομένου ψήγματος.

[105] XIII. 625 sq.

[106] Herod. VI. 46 sq.

[107] Strabo, 331.

[108] Herod. IX. 75.

[109] Strabo, 618. 29. Didot.

[110] Cf. Isaiah xlv. 14.

[111] The Debae of Agatharchides and Artemidorus are held by almost all scholars to be the people of Ptolemy’s Θῆβαι πόλις, i.e. Dhahabân, from Dhahab, gold, with term.-ân.

[112] Strabo, 661. 45. Didot.

[113] Diodorus Sic. II. 50. 1 sq.

[114] This story about their connection with Boeotia doubtless arose from the confusion between Δέβαι and Θῆβαι.

[115] Diod. Sic. III. 45. 4.

[116] His description of the size of the largest nuggets of gold varies slightly; in his second reference he compares them to “royal nuts” (κάρυα βασιλικά), which are generally admitted to be walnuts, though walnuts are sometimes also called “Persian nuts” (κάρυα Περσικά), the latter name reminding us of the derivation of walnut itself; in the first passage he likens them in size to chestnuts (κάρυα κασταναικά) or κασταναῖα, the name being said to be derived from Castanaea, a city of Pontus. It would seem from this then that Diodorus got his accounts from two slightly different sources. Strabo has been so cautious as not to give us any specific epithet for the large nut, which we may accordingly regard as we please either as a chestnut or a walnut. There can be no doubt about the fruit to which Strabo compares the medium-sized nuggets. The mespilon, Latin merpilum (from which comes the French nèfle), is undoubtedly the medlar, whilst perhaps the most likely meaning for the smallest of the three fruits is olive-stone.

[117] Diodorus, III. 12-14.

[118] Mansfield Parkyns, Life in Abyssinia, Vol. I. p. 405 (London, 1853).

[119] For similar ways of trading in Africa in modern times see Rawlinson’s note ad locum.

[120] Herod. IV. 49.

[121] Strabo, 173. 34-49, Didot.

[122] Ibid. 178 Didot.

[123] Th. Mommsen (Nordetruskische Alfabete, p. 250, seqq.) gives an admirable summary of the metallurgical history of this region.

[124] Strabo, 218.

[125] Pliny, XXXIII. 4. § 78, extat lex censoria Victumularum aurifodinae, qua in Vercellenai agro cavebatur, ne plus quinque M hominum in opere publicani haberent.

[126] Strabo, 205.

[127] Th. Mommsen, Die nordetruskischen Alfabete, p. 223; Pauli, Altitalische Forschungen, p. 6.

[128] Strabo, 191.

[129] Hucher, L’Art Gaulois, 19.

[130] We must then in all probability place the first striking of the Gaulish imitations of the Philippas about 150 B.C., rather than as is usually stated about 250 B.C.

[131] Strabo, 187.

[132] Strabo, 146.

[133] Diodorus, v. 27.

[134] Strabo, 190.

[135] Both are from coins in my own possession; A found near Mildenhall (Suffolk) in 1884, cf. Dr Evans, Ancient British Coins, Pl. XXIII. 4; B at Potton in Bedfordshire, 1888; cf. op. cit. Pl. B. 8.

[136] Strabo, 191.

[137] Caesar, B. G. V. 12, pecorum magnus numerus. Utuntur aut aere aut nummis aureis aut taleis ferreis ad certum pondus examinatis pro nummo. Nascitur ibi plumbum album in mediterraneis regionibus, maritimis ferrum, sed eius exigua est copia, aere utuntur importato.

[138] Caesar, B. G. II. 4.

[139] W. Ridgeway, “The Greek Trade Routes to Britain” (Folklore, March 1880, p. 23).

[140] Strabo, 199, leaves out tin here although he mentions it when quoting from Posidonius. The reason is that after the tin-mines of Northern Spain had been developed by Publius Crassus, Caesar’s lieutenant, the British tin trade ceased.

[141] Strabo, page 201.

[142] IV. 151.

[143] Herodotus, I. 163-4.

[144] Strabo, 147.

[145] Strabo, 146.