Ancient Coins: What About Spartan Coins?(coinweek.com)
coinweek.com
Ancient Coins: What About Spartan Coins?
https://coinweek.com/ancient-spartan-coins/
5 comments
Wiktionary:
> Plutarch tells us in Lysander 17 that, in early times, nails (ὀβελοί (obeloí)) were used as money, six of which made a handful (δραχμή (drakhmḗ)), and that the name was changed to ὀβολός (obolós).
In the (legendary) Spartan version of this, though, the currency was more cumbersome and deliberately less practically useful. You don't want people coveting money for its intrinsic utility — it's bad enough they'll covet it for its trade value! So the Spartan iron money was (allegedly) quenched in vinegar to ruin its intrinsic value.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelanor
It's unlikely that the legend corresponds to any ancient reality, though.
> Plutarch tells us in Lysander 17 that, in early times, nails (ὀβελοί (obeloí)) were used as money, six of which made a handful (δραχμή (drakhmḗ)), and that the name was changed to ὀβολός (obolós).
In the (legendary) Spartan version of this, though, the currency was more cumbersome and deliberately less practically useful. You don't want people coveting money for its intrinsic utility — it's bad enough they'll covet it for its trade value! So the Spartan iron money was (allegedly) quenched in vinegar to ruin its intrinsic value.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pelanor
It's unlikely that the legend corresponds to any ancient reality, though.
The Spartans, PR masters. https://www.ancientworldmagazine.com/articles/spartans-war-m...
Bret Devereaux has a great series of essays on nearly every aspect of Spartan society (https://acoup.blog/category/collections/this-isnt-sparta/) that's also worth the read.
Their coins being made of iron and to heavy to carry, nobody would want them.
Banning them came with its rise. Coins came with Sparta's down fall
They even used communal kitchens and housing. Lycurgis banned coinage and easily transportable tender and that lasted for about 500 years. Any currency had to be made of pure iron when it was used because private gold was banned.
Banning them came with its rise. Coins came with Sparta's down fall
They even used communal kitchens and housing. Lycurgis banned coinage and easily transportable tender and that lasted for about 500 years. Any currency had to be made of pure iron when it was used because private gold was banned.
Seeing how people wrote back then and what they where thinking about (without the internet) always impresses me!
https://www.doaks.org/resources/online-exhibits/ces-pieces-i...
Here are some photos from it
https://share.icloud.com/photos/07banOauKpgh0wnSkLGK7dScg