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POLEMAIC
- ROMAN COINS
The prevalent system of purchasing goods in ancient Egypt was the system
of bartering, exchanging the surplus in produce, or still using gold or
silver metal rings in their trading transactions, as illustrated vividly
on the walls of the minister Rekhmere's tomb, minister of Tutmosis III.
It is believed that the first to mint coins in its present form were the
Lydian in Asia Minor from the metal of Electrum during the eighth
century BC. The coins were in the form of stamped Ingots that vouched to
their genuineness, purity and value. Thereafter, coins were used by the
Greek through trading, who in turn, perfected the minting process during
the fifth century BC.
During the Persian era in Egypt (525-359 BC), the oldest coinage was
minted in Egypt. However, the Nubians continued in the bartering system
as basis of trading.
Upon the arrival of Greek in Egypt at the beginning of the seventh
century BC, specially in the city of "Noucratis" west to the
Nile Delta, in Sais and Memphis, they naturally brought along and
introduced their coins which was not at first prized by the Egyptians.
However, with the increase of trading relations with the Greek, the
Egyptians minted the Greek coinage with Hieroglyphic scriptures that
indicated the percentage of silver, by writing the expression "Nofr"
which indicated pure silver.
Mainly due to political necessities, the kings of the thirtieth family
(380-343 BC) have resorted to minting the Athens coins in gold and
silver and developed designs and weights that matched those of the
exterior world. This has led to the emerging of the gold coins known as
"Nob-Nofr".
With the arrival of Alexander the Great to Egypt, and the mounting of
his successors the Ptolemaic to the reign of Egypt, the coin currency
has become the main tool of the economy and was minted carrying the face
of Alexander the Great and his Ptolemaic successors. The coins used at
the time were made of gold, silver, bronze and Electrum. Effective the
era of the Roman Emperor Augustus, the Alexandrian coin was minted with
designs that eternalized their faces, city buildings, worshipping
temples and arches of victory.
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