Gold coins became the currency of the times and were highly sought after for their value. These were used as payment for taxes, and exchanged between rulers of different countries.
Hundreds of years later it was said that the Lydian king Croesus, was credited with the first true gold coins. This was in the in the 6th century B.C., and followed the 7th century Lydian production of coins using electrum.
Electrum was found in the riverbeds and consisted of a mix of both silver and gold. It wasn't until the next century however that the Lydians were able to separate the two metals from each other.
Once they were able to do that, they circulated both silver and gold coins and that is why they were the first to be credited with circulating true gold coins anywhere in the world. Early gold coins from them and other civilizations typically depicted powerful animals on their coinage such as bulls or lions.
The Greeks primarily used silver coins until Alexander the Great and his father Phillip of Macedonia acquired a large collection of gold from their conquests of the Persian Empire and other lands. However, silver was still the predominate metal for coin circulation.
Gold was often used as a means of payment to the soldiers. This was just a matter of convenience. As the armies conquered other territories and acquired gold, it was easier for them to be paid with gold. This was very much the case during the reign of the Roman Empire.
The Romans created and circulated coins on a huge scale, as they usually did with most other areas of their lives. Coins were usually minted out of the most readily available metals and with an empire as vast as the Roman's had, coins were made out of bronze, copper, silver and gold.
It wasn't until the death of Julius Cesar that gold coins became used more frequently. They eventually became the dominant coin in circulation. The Greeks started putting the faces of their rulers on their coins, and the Romans followed soon there after. To this day there is a large sampling of Roman gold coins that remain in collections.
Following the end of the Roman empires, as Europe began the Middle Ages, it was left to the Islamic and Persian countries to keep the up the circulation of gold coins. This continued until Italy led the way out of the Dark Ages and into the Renaissance.
With international trade and exploration, gold once again became a very dominant figure. Gold coins were once again highly sought after and used. This lasted until modern times and until the United States, along with other countries, went off the Gold Standard and gold coins fell out of favor as a means of circulated currency.
Fortunately, there are many gold coins still available today for collectors and in today's economic climate, it's also a wise investment.
If you're looking for great deals on gold coins and the latest information on how to build up your collection, visit the Gold Coin Connection today and discover all the great gold coins for sale at discount prices.
coins value: coins value
coins value: coins value
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