Money and Flows of Coinage in the Red Sea Trade (original) (raw)
The Role of Monetary Networks in the Trade between India and the Roman Empire
2016
In 1786, a chance discovery of Roman coins in an agricultural field in south India provided the first tangible hints to connections between India and the Mediterranean region in antiquity (Turner 1989: 1, 71). In an interesting coincidence, as these ancient ties with the West were being recorded, new associations were being simultaneously forged with contemporary European trading companies in then undivided India. This situation depicts the long history of trade and communication between India and Europe.
East & West, 2023
The Muziris papyrus loan agreement shows that the Arabarchs, contractors for the collection of duties on goods from the Indian Ocean, provided financial support to merchants engaged in trade with southern India through their paralemptes, the chief of their operating staff. The identification of the praevalens manceps Demetrius mentioned by Pliny the Elder with the homonymous arabarch mentioned by Flavius Josephus shows that the Arabarchs also granted maritime loans to merchants who exported to Italy goods subject to the duties they had to collect in Alexandria. As per their tax services and financial support, the Arabarchs collected the proceeds from virtually all sales of goods imported from the Indian Ocean to Alexandria and then re-exported to Puteoli, and eventually liquidated both the imperial Treasury and the merchants. Indian findings show that the coins exported to India were carefully selected. Therefore, the Arabarchs played a pivotal role in determining the selection of coins destined for export.
Indian kingdoms 1200–1500 and the maritime trade in monetary commodities
Currencies of the Indian Ocean World, 2019
The economies of the Indian subcontinent have historically exerted a dominant influence on the trade in monetary commodities across the Indian Ocean basin. This study examines that role in the period between 1200 and 1500 CE, ending almost a century before the first appearance in India of New World silver. The Indian demand for monetary commodities was shaped by the internal logic and dynamics of each of the sub-continent’s multiple monetary systems, all oriented towards domestic concerns, with considerable variation. Silver was by far the dominant precious metal in the north of India and the Deccan. Gold was mined in southern India, although the level of demand could not be met locally and gold was frequently imported. Copper was in great demand, being the basis of low-value coinage in the Delhi, Gujarat and Bahmanid Sultanates. In contrast, in Bengal there was no demand at all for copper for monetary purposes prior to 1538 because cowries served that function. The dual demand for silver and copper especially, set the pattern for the succeeding “early modern” period, when Indian coinage systems developed a voracious appetite for both metals.
The Introduction of Roman Coinages in Asia (133 BC – 1st Century AD)
Graecia capta? Rome et les monnayages de l’Egée aux IIe-Ier s. av. J.-C., edited by R.H.J. Ashton and N. Badoud ., 2021
Based on a complete survey of cistophoric hoards between the 2nd and the 1st century BC, this paper suggests that a change in the circulation pool of the province occurred around the 40s BC. Up to that moment, the currency system of the Provincia Asia was based on the prevalent use of the cistophorus within the province but with some residual productions of silver autonomous issues which were mainly limited to cities especially favoured by Rome and confined to local circulation in peripheral areas like Caria. After this date, denarii and cistophori coexist in the Provincia Asia, with a gradual decrease in the issue (and circulation) of the cistophori in the course of the 1st century AD. Epigraphic mentions of Roman currency, usually denarii, began to appear in Asia in the 30s BC. In inscriptions, the first attestations of Roman currency in Asia are roughly contemporary with the appearance of the portraits of Roman rulers on cistophori under Mark Antony and the change in the circulation patterns of the Asian cistophorus. This seems to suggest a correlation between presence in inscriptions and actual circulation at least for the denarius, which became progressively stronger in the course of the 1st century AD with the increasing presence of Roman currency in Asia and the decreasing and then disappearance of local silver issues. The hoard and epigraphic evidence analysed here thus strongly suggests that there was no top-down imposition of Roman currency, but rather a reciprocal adaptation of Roman and local monetary systems, which became increasingly integrated over the course of the 1st century AD.
Monetary circulation in the main settlements of Roman Dacia AD 244-332 - OLDY!
The main purpose of lhis paper is lo study currency circulation in the main seltlements of Roman Dacia from Philippus Arabs until lhe temporary feconquest of Dacia during the time oi Constantine the Great in 332. This period was selected in order to examine from the monelary point oi view lhe lmpLications of the Roman crisis in the 3rd century ancl studythe irnpacl on currency circulation of lhe abandonment of Dacia bythe Romans. lt is known ihat at that time coins were the only objecls to move beyond official borders. This paper attempts lo combine numismatic data with staiistjcal methods in orderlo arrive at histoical conclusions for each settlement and forthe entire province. A comparison between Dacia and iis neighbouring provinces of Pannonia Super or and Inferior may then point at difierences between lhejr respective economic and monetary situation, The study considers only site linds becausethey are jn fact a mirror image of the monetary market. The hoards which were buried in this period wiLl be the subject ot another paper The study is based on ihe method used by Jen5 Fitz lo describe currency flows il1 Panno nia and adjoinlng provincesr. For a betler overview of the circulalion, I fjrst listed the emperors governing in 244-332 for each settlernent (tables 2-10) and then added a general list for the province (table 1). Next I computed the coefficjent of a coin's incidence in each year for ihe whole period (244-332) in each setilement (tab es 12-20) and the province (table 11). The monelary c rcu ation index was then obtajned by dividing the coefficienl of the coin's incidence per yearfor each emperor bythe coefficient ior the whole period. The results were again calculated ior each setuement (tables 12-20) and for the whole province(table11).Thechartsindicatefluctuationsintheindexvalues(plates1-10).This index can help us arrive at a comparison of currency circulation beh,veen seitlemenls in a given period and use that as a starting point to deiermine lrends.
Roman Coins in India and their impact.pdf
ROMAN COINS IN INDIA AND THEIR IMPACT KANCHAN GANGULY The English word ‘Numismatic’ is derived from latin word ‘Numisma’, means ‘study of coin’. Coins are remarkably durable objects and remained in circulation for long periods of times after they were originally issued. There are several series of foreign coins found in India. It is often applied in India to coins by dynasties of non-indigenous origin, as well as to coins imported from abroad. Among such coins, I would like to discuss some of the best coins found in Ancient India, the Roman coinages. So I shall pick up only a few of them to illustrate the relevance of their study, imported into India by a way of trade, brought by the Indians and left behind by the travelers. The discovery of a large number of Roman coins in India should originally indicate about commercial contacts of their origin. The coins are actually used for payments, but their value would have been determined by the worth of their metal in the Indian market. The Roman coins imported as bullion could have been used in certain areas and periods as media of exchange. It containing precious metals such as gold and silver will have arrived in India as trade consignments. The importance of the Roman coins in India goes beyond their commercial implications. The impact and influences of Roman coins directly reflects on Indian coins. The arrival in India of large number of Roman coins can however be dated to the early phase of Indo-Roman trade, the period 30 BC - 45 AD. The coins are found in various parts of India, like Andhrapradesh, Gujrat, Nasik, Kerala and Tamilnadu. The issues of gold aurei and silver denarii coins exported to India were carefully selected with weight-standard and high gold and silver content. The coins are generally used as a medium of exchange, as raw material for the indigenous coinage, and as ornaments for the natives. In the present essay an attempt has to be made to investigate the impact and influence of Roman coins on India. The types, techniques, weight-standard, metal, variety of these coins have to be studied. Since a large number of research papers, some monographs and books are available for serious researcher. Here an attempt will be made to acquaint the layman about the significance and importance of the foreign coins specially the Roman coins found in India.