Ancient Greek coins
Ancient Greek coins: an Athenian silver coin with Athena's owl How Greeks minted coins Beginning around 600 BC, each Greek city-state minted (made) its own kinds of coins. (They got [...]
6
07, 2017
6
07, 2017
Greek economy in the classical period
Classical Greek economy: Sailors rowing trading ships (Athens ca. 550 BC) Greek mercenary soldiers The trends of the Archaic period in Greece continued into the Classical period, about 500-400 BC, [...]
27
06, 2017
Early European economy – northern Europe
Abrigo del Ciervo, Spain, ca. 6000 BC: Early European economy Hunting and gathering The first people in Europe lived by hunting and gathering; they probably had both dogs and bows [...]
23
06, 2017
Salt caravans in Africa and China
A salt caravan across the Sahara Desert By 252 BC, a Chinese governor named Li Bing also figured out how to mine salt. People dug deep pits down to where [...]
21
06, 2017
History of Chocolate: Where does chocolate come from?
History of chocolate: Cocoa pods grow right from the trunk of the cocoa tree! (Thanks World Cocoa Foundation) Chocolate comes from South America Chocolate comes from cacao beans, which grew [...]
12
06, 2017
What is a wet nurse? History of wetnursing
What is a wet nurse? An ancient Egyptian wet nurse nursing a baby (From the tomb of one of the daughters of Akhenaten) What is a wet nurse? A wet [...]
12
06, 2017
What is usury? Economic history
Code of Hammurabi (1700s BC) Usury (YOU-sure-ee) is when you lend money to someone else and charge a percentage as interest for that money. For instance if you lend me [...]
12
06, 2017
Who invented taxes? History of taxes
History of taxes: Subjects bring tribute to Persepolis (Iran, ca. 480 BC) What are taxes? Taxes have been around for a long time. They are the main way people pay [...]
12
06, 2017
What’s a numismatist? The history of coins
Numismatists study coins like this Roman silver coin from the 200s AD A numismatist is a person who studies coins, to find out when they were made, and where, and [...]
12
06, 2017
Paper money and letters of credit
Chinese paper money What came before paper money? For almost two thousand years, people used metal coins for money, or they used letters of credit (like a check today). History [...]
