Prof. Walter Scheidel, "Coinage: East versus West "The Great Alternative?"
Channel: American Numismatic Society
Date: 2018-06-15

Prof. Scheidel delivers the 2018 Harry W. Fowler Memorial Lecture, in which he discusses how the ancient world produced two major independent traditions of coinage: one in the Aegean, which laid the foundations for our own nickels, dimes and quarters, and the other in early China. Chinese coins were distinctive: they avoided naturalistic motifs; were made of base metal alloys rather than gold or silver; and came with a hole in the middle. These features persisted with relatively minor changes into the modern period. Prof. Scheidel seeks to identify the reasons for these and other differences between Eastern and Western numismatic traditions, including the relative importance of the two regions’ resource endowments and, most critically, their political development.

Prof. Walter Scheidel is Professor of History at Stanford University and has published widely on topics of ancient history and economic history. 

This lecture was delivered on May 10, 2018.