The Question of Money
We are going through a tumultuous economic period. Amid financial crises and the omnipresent importance of money, a question arises: who invented this formidable and dangerous tool that humanity so desires?
Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, did not have money as we understand it today. The ancient Mesopotamians used a rather archaic payment system, which nonetheless endured for a long time. It was not precious metal coins, gold, silver, or even copper, as later archaeology would reveal in other contexts.
The so-called money of ancient Mesopotamia was often weighed silver: ingots, pieces, or quantities of metal whose value depended on weight, standard, and trust.
Before Coins: Ingots and Weight
This system worked, but it required weighing, checking, and measuring. Every transaction demanded confidence in the metal, the scale, and the person who handled both.
In that world, wealth could exist without coins. Silver circulated as value, but it had not yet taken the standardized, stamped, portable form that later societies would recognize as currency. Money still had to be weighed before it could be counted.
Lydia and the Birth of Coinage
It was in western Anatolia, in the kingdom of Lydia, that coinage took a decisive step. The first true coins appeared in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE, in a region rich in electrum, a natural alloy of gold and silver.
The Lydian rulers understood the political and commercial power of stamped metal. A coin was not merely precious matter. It was a guarantee. It carried the authority of the ruler who issued it, transforming pieces of metal into trusted units of exchange.
Tradition often connects this monetary revolution to Alyattes, king of Lydia between roughly 610 and 560 BCE, and then to his son Croesus. Alyattes helped establish the Lydian power that made coinage possible. Croesus would transform that inheritance into legend.
Croesus and the Gold of Sardis
Croesus is best known for his extraordinary wealth. His court in Sardis hosted the greatest thinkers and artists of his time, and Croesus shone over the ancient world.
Feared for his power, he was also admired for his generosity, made possible by his immense riches. He notably financed monuments and made countless offerings to the sanctuary of Delphi, where his gifts impressed the Greek world.
Two modern expressions still echo his memory: "rich as Croesus," referring to his colossal wealth, and the idea of "striking it rich," often associated with the Pactolus River, whose gold-bearing sands helped nourish the Lydian imagination of abundance.
Solon and the Fragility of Fortune
One could also add another lesson: money cannot buy happiness, even when it contributes to comfort and power. This is the lesson attached to the encounter between Croesus and Solon, the Athenian lawgiver.
According to Herodotus, Croesus showed Solon his treasures and expected to be called the happiest of men. Solon refused, warning him with a hard sentence: call no man happy until he is dead.
Indeed, defeated by Cyrus, king of the Persians, Croesus paid for his arrogance toward the Great King by being condemned, in the story, to die on a great pyre.
Finally understanding the words of the old Greek philosopher, Croesus allegedly exclaimed: "Oh Solon, Solon!" This utterance, noticed by Cyrus, saved his life. Once Croesus explained what made him speak thus, Cyrus, struck by the instability of human affairs, granted him the right to live. He kept him by his side as a counselor and friend, even trusting him.
A Better Treasury
This brings us to a maxim often associated with the wisdom of the philosophers: a treasury of good maxims is a better possession than a treasure of gold.
Croesus remains the king of wealth not because gold saved him, but because gold failed to protect him from destiny. His story begins with money and ends with wisdom. Between the two lies the whole ancient lesson: value is never only in metal.
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Croesus”.
- Encyclopaedia Britannica Money, “Origins of coins”.
- Herodotus, Histories, Book I.
