Economic Perspectives on Monetary History, Volume 1 & 2

Economic Perspectives on Monetary History approaches the history of money through the economic problems that monetary systems had to solve. Coins, hoards, mint records, inscriptions, and written sources provide the indispensable evidence. But evidence also raises questions: why were particular monetary objects trusted, why did some systems spread while others remained local, and why did similar monetary problems reappear in very different societies? This book uses economic theory as a complement to numismatics, archaeology, and history. It asks how money reduced transaction costs, supported exchange and credit, enabled taxation, and depended on credibility.