The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece

Download or read book The Invention of Coinage and the Monetization of Ancient Greece written by David Schaps and published by University of Michigan Press. This book was released on 2015-09-02 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.