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[-] trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

They would all have different coins, but the actual value of those coins was determined by their weight, so as long as you could verify that it didn't matter much. Scraping worked because not every salesperson would check the weight of the coins.

[-] schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 day ago

Are you spitballing like me or is this your field? Because you'd need to know the percentage of the metal present in the coin to weigh it; gold and silver are too soft be pure. That introduces problems of debasement, a coin from an earlier minting might have a higher content than a later printing, and multiply that by all the different city-states, and you have a potential headache.

[-] trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

It is not my field, so don't take it too serious. But I think I'm those times it was not doable for most people to test metals for purity, so that wouldn't have influenced it much unless it became noticable by eye (or biting)

this post was submitted on 26 Aug 2026
494 points (98.2% liked)

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