Hi
gallienus and JBF,
I would totally agree with what you said. I approach this topic from an anthropologist perspective perhaps much more than numismatic I suppose. As you said, the word coin has a specific meaning. I am looking at this as an issue of
money. The dictionary definition of
money I am not a fan of: "a current medium of exchange in the form of coins and banknotes; coins and banknotes collectively."
The
Wikipedia definition I much prefer: "
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The main functions of
money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and sometimes, a
standard of deferred payment. Any item or verifiable record that fulfils these functions can be considered as
money."
Coins are a subset of
money. And, as an aside, banknotes have no actual value unless tied to something like gold. They have symbolic value defined by the state, but unless
price controls are in place, even bronze coins have no real actual value since prices are haggled over.
Given that people have been trading for as long as people have been around, I think
money has been around forever. Maybe this isn't a
good way to look at it and I am open to being wrong. The native Americans trading obsidian for dried salmon
had some concept of the value of each. Cowrie shells may not have been coins, but they were
money.
I
hope I haven't taken this
thread too off-topic.
Virgil