A brief history of money from ancient times to the present day

How much to weigh in grams Precious metals as a material for money have taken root for a number of reasons. Firstly, raw materials were rare, which means that it was easier for states to control the strategically important sphere of coin production. Secondly, a coin made of gold or silver could always be melted down and used for its intended purpose. Thirdly, by banal weighing (and adjusting for the purity of the metal), it was possible to estimate the approximate value of the coin, even if you had never encountered it before. Few people can easily convert 100 Burmese kyats or Indian rupees into US dollars, but it will not be difficult for anyone to distinguish 5 grams of gold from 10 grams.

At the same time, both in the era of Antiquity and in the Middle Ages, a great variety of very different coins were in circulation, and of very different quality. One of the examples of reliability (in terms of weight and purity of the metal) for many years was the Byzantine solidus minted from the 3rd century AD, also known as nomisma and bezant. This coin has been exemplary honest in terms of the amount of precious metal it contains for several centuries. An opposite example is the Roman denarius and aureus, from which silver and gold gradually disappeared in the same 3rd century. The fact that large monetary units were divided into not the most obvious number of small ones also contributed to the monetary confusion in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Here are some examples from different countries. Ancient Greece: 1 mina = 50 staters = 100 drachmas = 600 obols. Medieval France: 1 livre = 20 sur = 240 denier. Medieval England: 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence. Add to this the abundance of mints, the constant change in the exchange rate of silver coins to gold coins, damage to coins due to a lack of precious metals, the love of dukes and kings for changing the design of money, and you will understand how remarkable a memory was required for a medieval merchant, and not only him.

In one of the episodes of The Three Musketeers, the heroes of Dumas count how much money they have on hand, and receive the following: 30 ecu + 10 pistoles + 25 pistoles = 475 livres. Three different coins at once in one arithmetic problem, and the novel still features salts (su), denier, francs, doubloons, excudos... It is noteworthy that Russia became the first European state to switch to the decimal principle of money counting. Through the efforts of Peter I, from the beginning of the 18th century, the country switched to the current principle of 1 ruble = 100 kopecks. By the end of the century, similar reforms were carried out by the United States and France, and other states followed suit. Great Britain most actively resisted the innovation, in which the system 1 = 20 = 240 existed until 1971.