"How many of my dumb money does that slave cost?"
this post was submitted on 05 Dec 2024
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Historical Artifacts
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Interesting. What was it used for?
Money can be exchanged for goods and services.
Tell me how!
$3 can buy many peanuts.
Hmmm. Go on.
It kinda looks like a blobby casting error... Of course if it were manually cast I dunno why it'd be haphazardly stamped a bunch of times- that feels like what you'd see on an automated production line where something has gone wrong, rather than manual production
They made them look like this on purpose. Silver was too expensive for daily trade, so they minted weird shaped money with cheap metal to be used as credit tokens. [source]
https://laralfabian.com/2015/07/24/odd-bronzes-of-the-golden-age/
Oh neat! Thank you for sharing more info ☺️
Pretty cool, thank you
But wouldn't those odd shapes jam up their vending machines and pay phones?
Did they have automated coin prints in the 13th century? The printing press wasn't invented untill two hundred years later.
Regardless, you're probably right. However it was stamped or pressed was messed up. The design is pressed on top of itself in a few places.
Someone shared a bit more info in another comment apparently they were cast this way on purpose!
Not vending machines.
Hmm. This is good. I feel like we're making progress here.
You see that little notch between the lobes? That's what they used to open their beer bottles.