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| ". . . The Chinese possibly invented the first metal coins before 900 BC . . . in a tomb near Anyang. At that time, the coin itself was a replica of more earlier used cowry shells . . . it was named . . . 'Bronze shell'. Coins originated separately in Ionia-Lydia (most likely in Greek Ephesus . . .), China, and India (where coins were known as 'Karshapana', though India was later, during Hellenistic times, influenced by the first line of development). Excavations carried out at the Anuradhapura Gedige has found Sinhala coins dating back to 400 BC, other excavations have also shown that cowries were used in Sri Lanka prior to 400 BC. One early coin from Caria, Asia Minor, includes a legend 'I am the badge of Phanes', though most of the early Lydian pieces have no writing on them, just symbolic animals. Therefore the dating of these coins relies primarily on archeological evidence, with the most commonly cited evidence coming from excavations at the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, also called the 'Ephesian Artemision' (which would later evolve into one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world). The first Lydian coin was made of electrum, an alloy of silver and gold. Many early Lydian coins were undoubtedly struck (manufactured) under the authority of private individuals and are thus more akin to tokens than true coins, though because of their numbers it's evident that some were official state issues, with King Alyattes of Lydia being the most frequently mentioned originator of coinage. The first Indian coins were minted around the 6th century BC by the Mahajanapadas of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. The coins of this period were punch marked coins called 'Puranas', Karshapanas' or Pana'. The Mahajanapadas that minted their own coins included Gandhara, Kuntala, Kuru, Panchala, Shakya, Surasena, and Surashtra. Some argue that Indian coins were developed from Western prototypes, which the Indians came in contact with through Babylonian traders. Some of the earliest coins to be made purely from silver and gold were the silver shekel and gold Derik in the achaemenid Empire in about 500 BC. The first European coin to use Arabic numerals to date the year minted was the Swiss 1424 St. Gallen silver Plappart . . ." — Coin at Wikipedia |
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