W HY C OINAGE ? P OLITICAL AND E CONOMIC A SPECTS P ETER VAN A LFEN ANS S UMMER S EMINAR 2011

T HE B IRTH OF C OINAGE Remains of the first mint at Sardis Lydian electrum stater, c. 575 BC

P OLEIS P RODUCING C OINAGE BY 500 BC

H ACKSILBER

E ARLY L YDIAN E LECTRUM I SSUES

W HY C OINAGE ? P OLITICAL VS. E CONOMIC S YSTEMS OF I NTERPRETATION P OLITICAL -coinage no more than a political phenomenon as a form of civic pride, identity and self-representation -expression of sovereignty; the “right of coinage” -coinage a locus of internal (non-)elite conflict and moral economy -coinage a tool in external hegemonic power relations E CONOMIC -coinage a tool for meeting public debts -coinage a source of revenue

E CONOMIES AND C OINAGE I. M ONEY S UPPLY A. Coinage B. Bullion C. Money Extension 1. Private: credit 2. Private: bank money 3. State: monetary manipulations (debasement, etc.)

E CONOMIES AND C OINAGE F RACTIONAL R ESERVE B ANKING

E CONOMIES AND C OINAGE II. S TATE INCOME AND EXPENDITURES A. Income (profit from coinage) 1. Fiduciarity 2. Commodification B. Expenditures (public debts) 1. Military 2. Non-military What is the relationship between the mint and the fisc?

E CONOMIES AND C OINAGE III. (P OLITICAL ) E CONOMIES : I NTERNAL A. For the public good? Small change/deflation 1. Private responses: private coinage B. Internal regulation: legal tender IV. (P OLITICAL ) E CONOMIES : E XTERNAL A. International currencies B. Hegemonic coinage C. Cooperative coinage

A GAIN : W HY C OINAGE ? Let us think of coinage as a collective action problem involving real people. The production of coinage is a cooperative project requiring a coordinated series of communal decisions: -Why coinage? Why now? -What metal? -What weight standard? -What iconography? -How many? -Who decides and why?

F RAMEWORKS AND Q UESTIONS P ROBLEMS OF M ETHODOLOGY I NDUCTIVE -The framing of problems within anthropological or literary theories in order to approach the material evidence of coinage through the literary representation of coinage. D EDUCTIVE -The focus on single mints to produce a die study, which provides the relative chronology of the various series and the statistical basis for determining the quantity of coins produced, plus technical information on weight standards and die axis preferences.

F RAMEWORK AND Q UESTIONS A P OLITICAL ECONOMY OF ( ARCHAIC G REEK ) C OINAGE A “M IDDLE R ANGE ” M ETHODOLOGICAL F RAMEWORK -A framework integrating theory and empirical observations, e.g., the combined use of political and economic theories and technical numismatic study (e.g., die, hoard, metallurgical studies, etc.) S AMPLE Q UESTIONS -How did this particular group of people come to think coinage was important (and where did they obtain their information?) -How did their governing structures help or hinder the alignment of interests? -How did they implement and enforce their decisions? -How successful was the outcome?

T HE T HEORETICAL T OOLKIT : P OLITICAL - PUBLIC CHOICE THEORY : to explore rationality and the behavior of self-interested political actors and agents - BARGAINING THEORY : to understand sources of inefficiencies in reaching agreements - ELITE THEORY : to understand power distributions - NETWORK THEORY : to trace the organization of information and loyalties - INSTITUTIONS THEORY : to appreciate how actors and agents shape institutions and are shaped by them

T HE T HEORETICAL T OOLKIT : E CONOMIC -( NEO ) CLASSICAL : to map supply/demand and price formation - MARXIAN : to understand the modes of production and consumption, and the formation of value -( NEO ) INSTITUTIONAL : to understand the role of transaction costs, property rights, rule of law, and path dependency - ECONOMIC SOCIOLOGY : to understand the role of social networks and social capital, trust, and collective action - ECONOMIC ANTHROPOLOGY : provides cross cultural comparanda on value formation, embeddedness, and (in)formal economies

P ROBLEM : C OINS AS P UBLIC GOODS, C LUB GOODS, OR P RIVATE GOODS ? P UBLIC G OODS -Non-rivalrous and non-excludable. Non-rivalry means that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and non-excludability that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good (e.g., national defense, air). C LUB G OODS -Non-rivalrous, but excludable (e.g., golf courses, cinemas). P RIVATE G OODS -Rivalrous and excludable (e.g., private property).

P ROBLEM : D ISPERSED A UTHORITIES ? WALWET (A LYTTES ) L YDIA, EL 1/3 STATER, C. 575 BCE

P ROBLEM : D ISPERSED A UTHORITIES ? “I am the semis of Phanes” I ONIA, E PHESUS ?, C. 600 BCE EL STATER

P ROBLEM : C OINAGE AND I DENTITY Ionia, unknown mint, c. 600 BCE EL hekte

P ROBLEM : S OCIAL N ETWORKS AND C OINAGE T HE D EVELOPMENT OF W IDESPREAD T RUST

P ROBLEM : A LIGNMENT OF I NTERESTS T HE D EVELOPMENT OF C IVIC C OIN M ONOPOLIES

P ROBLEM : C OINAGE AS I NTELLECTUAL P ROPERTY N IKOPHON ’ S NOMOS (375/4 BC)(SEG 26.72) 1) dokimon (prototype) 2) ksenikon…ekhon…kharaktera toi Attikoi (imitation) 3) hypokhalkon (counterfeit)

C ASE S TUDY 1: L ESBOS E FFICIENT COOPERATION Methymna, AR stater, c. 500 BCE

C ASE S TUDY 1: L ESBOS Mytilene-Phokaia Cooperative EL hektai

C ASE S TUDY 1: L ESBOS E FFICIENT COOPERATION Lesbos, uncertain mint(s), c. 500 BCE Billon staters

C ASE S TUDY 2: S AMOS, K LAZOMENAI, I ALYSOS I NEFFICIENT COOPERATION /H EGEMONIC ACTION

C ASE S TUDY 3: E UBOIA E FFICIENT N ON -C OOPERATION Tetradrachm of EretriaTetradrachm of Chalcis