A week ago, we looked at how ancient Egypt made history in data preservation and accounting. Today we'll look at a civilization much closer to us - Greece. Ancient Greece is important to world history for many reasons. It showed generations of later politicians how important access to the sea is in geopolitics. It formed the core of philosophy and influenced culture in many other ways. And finally - it is where the money market was born. We are talking about coins as we know them today. Earlier, trade used a system of weights, cumbersome bullion bars or - as in China - strange "hole coins". The Chinese may have been the first to discover that something resembling coins could be introduced to the market (these were actually more ring-like objects, which were strung together to form a kind of wallet), but it was the Greeks who created them as a fully-fledged means of payment. The ancient Satoshi Nakamoto In this series, we try to prove to you that cryptocurrencies and blockchain are actually the result of centuries of evolution of banking and monetary systems. This is because from the beginning, people wanted to pay with money in the most convenient and secure way possible. Added to this was the need for permanence to preserve transaction data. Now let's deal with money. The first coins were minted by Gyges, king of Lydia, in the 7th century BC. At the same time, Ionian cities in Asia Minor began using them during a similar period. Although today it is difficult to imagine a banknote without the image of a famous politician (whether George Washington or Casimir the Great), the first coins were not used by rulers for propaganda purposes. Although this is a certain abuse, in this respect they were closer to digital money, which represents only its market value, without adding symbols associated with any country or idea. However, if we reject the propaganda theory (it follows that we must do so), it is worth asking why anyone started minting coins in the first place. Some suggest that Gyges wanted to reward his mercenaries in this way. But the truth may be much more trivial - they were probably looking for convenience in trade. Earlier, this one was based on barter or exchange of gold bars (this is known, for example, from excavations from the 12th century BC). This could not have been convenient. The leap from this system to coins must have been something even more revolutionary than the "switch" from cash to mobile payments. Coinage, then, is the result of human need. This much and this much. It is a shame that its creator is not recorded in history. Just as we don't know who invented blockchain, we have no idea who one day came to the conclusion that handing someone else a gold medal in exchange for a loaf of bread was a truly brilliant idea. Decentralization It is worth noting that archaeologists point out that the first coins did not have a unified form when it came to markings. In the temple of Diana in Ephesus (that's Asia Minor again), sizable deposits of coins from the 7th century BC were found. Some of them were minted by Gyges, others by Ionian cities, but some had markings of private individuals. This shows another link between ancient monetary thought and cryptocurrencies. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that everyone could just mint their coins at home. Perhaps they belonged to some famous merchants whose operations were even international in scope? The invention spread quite quickly for those times. Probably because the Ionian cities conducted lively commercial activities and transferred new ideas. Drachmas and obols began to circulate around the Greek world. Interestingly, Athens began minting its own coins only later (it is not clear exactly when, but it is assumed that since the time of the reformer Solon). Once they began production, however, their currency was very sound - it consisted of 95 percent silver, which was mined from the state mine at Laurion. They were also the first Greek coins with images on both sides. With the issuance of coins also came the first counterfeiters. With no algorithm available to check that the coin conformed to the current system, the Greeks came up with something simpler. So that no one would cut off the edges of the coins, lowering their value, someone came up with the idea to "serrate" them. Even at this stage, problems arose concerning the determination of the value of the currency. Solon even instituted an official to ensure the standard of the coins. At one stage in his reign in Athens, he even came up with the idea of devaluing the drachma, which infuriated the wealthy citizens. The poorer citizens were indebted to them. After the devaluation, the latter paid back their loans with money that was actually worth less. Solon went down in history as an admirer of the urban poor. It is difficult to clearly define where his sympathy for the poor came from. Perhaps because he himself came from an impoverished aristocratic family? Or maybe it was a cynical approach - he saw the stratification of society, growing inequalities, and feared a revolt
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