Friday, May 6, 2016

J P Koning — What makes medieval money different from modern money?


Of interest to money buffs. Gives new meaning to "fiat."

Moneyness
What makes medieval money different from modern money?
J P Koning

3 comments:

Matt Franko said...

They could have weighed them... so you dont need a number on them...

Matt Franko said...

"Now they weigh for him thirty pieces of silver." Mat 26:15

could have just weighed them...

MRW said...

Did you bother to read the article?

To sum up, in the medieval ages the method of determining the content of the unit of account was divorced from the physical objects that were in circulation. Rather than appearing on the coin, the proper ratings were printed up on a royal decree. By contrast, in our modern era monetary authorities have stopped the practice of remotely defining the unit of account in favor of striking it directly onto physical and digital objects.