Historical-Political Dissertation on Coins, Both Functional and Commemorative

it established the measure of value, is called emptus bought, and came under the name of pecunia money. It is as if it were the peculium private property/savings of the head of the household, estimated from pecus cattle, because in ancient times the wealth of the ancients consisted primarily in the abundance of cattle and farming. The following verses of Ovid, Book 5 of the Fasti, are worthy of note in this regard, v. 279:

Other instruments of luxury were not yet seen,
The wealthy man possessed either cattle or broad land,
Hence the term locuples wealthy/rich in land, and hence pecunia money itself was so named.

Thus, later, pecunia was specifically accepted for counted and stamped moneta money/coin, since it either succeeded to the place of cattle (with which exchange was previously made), or because the figure of cattle had been stamped upon it afterwards, according to Pliny, Book 33, ch. 3. See Gryphius, Oeconomia legalis Legal Economics, Book 1, ch. 6, p. 15; Küzel, l.c. in the place cited, p. 42-43. This is therefore the common opinion of writers. But what must be said regarding the conjecture of Jacob Lembken in his learned dissertation on pecunia lustrica purificatory money, ch. 1, § 1? Specifically, that coins were initially made and stamped from the leather of cattle, and that because of an ignorance of how to work bronze, the word pecunia has its birth from this. For our part, we do not force this opinion upon anyone, which seemed not improbable in the inaugural dissertation on the change and increase of coinage, under the protection of D. Slevogt, ch. 1, § 5. For the remaining Latin, Greek, and Hebrew names for coins, diligently collected and explained, see the work of Matthaeus Hostus, Book 1, Historia rei nummariae veteris History of ancient coinage, ch. 3, pp. 13-39; likewise, for German terms, see Besold’s Thesaurus Practicus Practical Treasury.

§. IV.

§. 4. Definition and division.

Having thus briefly disposed of those matters that needed to be considered concerning the name, we now prepare ourselves rather for the pragmatologia study of the subject matter/facts itself. Here, we will first provide a definition, or at least a description, of a nummus coin: namely, that a coin is a metal (ordinarily), defined by public authority, by just price and weight, and marked with a certain character, for the sake of easier exchange or the preservation of memory. Hostus provides and explains a more lengthy one in the work cited, ch. 5, p. 39, who can also be consulted regarding the various divisions of coins through seven entire chapters, p. 47. It has pleased us, in the definition given, to look primarily to the double purpose of coins (about which more in its proper place), in consideration of which, the coin is accustomed to be distinguished into permutatorium for exchange or usuale customary, and memoriale memorial. We shall speak mostly of the former here, but the memorial coin will be discussed specifically in Chapter 2.