Since the Bronze Age, gold and other precious metals have been used in trade in the Ancient Near East. However, coins were not made until the 6th century BC in Anatolia. Even though the Parian Chronicle lists Pheidon of Argos as a possible inventor, the name of Lydian king Croesus is still linked to the idea.
When the Persians took over Croesus in 546 BC, they switched most of their coins to gold. The gold drams, which were made as a gift by Persian King Vonones in the year 1 AD, are still the most valuable coins ever made in Iran. In ancient Greece, different city states made different kinds of gold coins.
The Ying yuan is a Chinese gold coin from the past. It was the first one to be made. The ones that were found first were made in the fifth or sixth century BC.
Larger units, such as talents, which ranged from 26 to 60 kg, were used for high-value trades and gold bullion bars.
History Of The Present Time
The German gold mark replaced the different local Gulden coins of the Holy Roman Empire in the German Empire. This happened in 1873. Gold coins were the most common form of money for a long time. They stopped being used as money in the early 1900s.
By 1933, most countries had stopped using the gold standard because people were saving up during the Great Depression. Executive Order 6102, which was passed in 1933, said that people couldn’t keep gold for themselves. This was followed by a drop in the value of the dollar compared to gold, but the dollar’s value wasn’t completely separated from gold’s until 1971.
Many countries have started using gold-colored coins again. But in the language of numismatics, a “gold coin” is always a gold coin and never a coin made of manganese brass or other alloys. Also, many countries still make gold coins that are legal tender, but these coins are mostly for collectors and investors rather than for everyday use.
Large Denomination Gold Coins
In 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint made a 100 kg (220 lb) gold coin with a face value of $1,000,000, even though the gold it contained was worth more than $2 million at the time. It has a diameter of 50 centimeters and is 3 centimeters thick.
It was supposed to be a one-time promotion for a new line of Canadian Gold Maple Leaf coins, but after several interested buyers approached the mint, it announced that the coins would be made as ordered and sold for between $2.5 million and $3 million. There were five orders as of May 3, 2007. One of these coins was stolen from the Bode Museum in Berlin.
Austria had already made a gold coin worth €100,000 that was 37 centimeter in diameter and weighed 31 kilograms. The Royal Canadian Mint made the world’s first gold coin with a diamond on it in 2012.
The diamond weighed between 0.11 and 0.14 carats. The face value of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee coin is $300, and it is made of 99.999 percent pure gold.
In 2012, the Perth Mint in Western Australia made the largest gold coin that could be spent legally. The “1 Tone Gold Kangaroo Coin” has a diameter of 80 cm and a thickness of 12 cm. It is worth $1,000,000 and is made of 1 tone of 9999 pure gold.
Gold has always been an important part of the way the world’s money works. Around 550 BC, the first gold coins were made by King Croesus of Lydia. Before paper money came along, they were used as money in a lot of countries.
By the end of the 1800s, many of the world’s most important currencies were tied to gold at a fixed price per ounce. This was called the “Gold Standard,” and it was used in different ways for more than a century.
The World Gold Council paid for a collection of excerpts from important historical documents from 1660 to 1999 to help scholars, journalists, and anyone else who wants to learn more about gold’s role in money.
For each source, citations are given to help the reader do more research. Because of this, these documents are a great way for people to learn about the history of money and gold.
