History of coins, year by year

Coins have been made for about 2,600 years. Knowing where a coin fits into this history helps you identify it – and understand why some are worth their metal, some a fortune and most their face value. Pick a year:

• c. 600 BC Lydia strikes the first coins
  In the kingdom of Lydia, in today's Turkey, the first true coins appear – small lumps of electrum stamped with a lion's head.
• c. 450 BC The Athenian owl
  Athens strikes its silver tetradrachm with Athena and her owl in huge numbers – the first coin trusted across the Mediterranean.
• 211 BC Rome introduces the denarius
  During the war against Hannibal, Rome creates the silver denarius – the backbone of Roman money for about 450 years.
• 44 BC Caesar's portrait on a coin
  Julius Caesar becomes the first living Roman to appear on a coin – and portraits of rulers become the rule.
• 309 Constantine's gold solidus
  Emperor Constantine introduces the solidus, a gold coin that stays stable for about 700 years.
• 793 Charlemagne's silver penny
  Charlemagne reforms the silver denier – and creates the pound-shilling-penny system that lasted in Britain until 1971.
• 1252 The gold florin of Florence
  Florence and Genoa strike gold coins again – the florin becomes the model for gold coins all over Europe.
• 1284 The Venetian ducat
  Venice introduces the gold ducat – a coin struck with almost unchanged weight and design for more than 500 years.
• 1486 The Guldiner of Tyrol
  In Hall in Tyrol, Archduke Sigismund strikes a large silver coin worth a gold guilder – the ancestor of the thaler.
• 1520 The Joachimsthaler – origin of the 'dollar'
  Silver from Joachimsthal in Bohemia gives its name to the thaler – and through it to the dollar.
• 1792 The United States Mint
  The Coinage Act creates the US Mint in Philadelphia and a decimal dollar divided into 100 cents.
• 1817 The gold sovereign
  Britain launches the modern gold sovereign with St George and the dragon – still struck today.
• 1850 The Swiss franc
  The new federal state replaces dozens of cantonal currencies with one: the Swiss franc of 100 centimes (Rappen).
• 1865 The Latin Monetary Union
  France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland agree on common gold and silver coins that circulate freely between them.
• 1873 The German mark
  The new German Empire replaces thalers and gulden with the mark on the gold standard.
• 1933 The Double Eagle that never circulated
  The US withdraws gold coins from circulation – and the 1933 Double Eagle becomes the world's most famous coin.
• 1965 Silver disappears from coins
  Rising silver prices push the US – and soon other countries – to replace silver in everyday coins with copper-nickel.
• 1967 The Krugerrand
  South Africa launches the Krugerrand – the first modern bullion coin containing exactly one ounce of fine gold.
• 1971 Decimal Day and the end of gold-backed money
  Britain abandons the 240-penny pound, and the US ends the conversion of dollars into gold.
• 2002 Euro coins arrive
  On 1 January 2002, euro coins and banknotes enter circulation in twelve countries – each country with its own national side.