Weekly Numismatic Journal
Obscure & Historical Coins Archive
Weekly Deep Dives (Weeks 1–19)
Explore 19 weeks of curated articles covering ancient mints, commodity currencies, and monetary innovations across world history. Filter by era or sort chronologically.
Expanding to US Coin Tosses with cointossus.com
Learn about cointossus.com and our expansion into US coin toss presets, US Quarters, NFL overtime toss statistics, and global coin flipping.
Famous Coin Tosses in Sports History
A source-led look at notable coin tosses in Super Bowls, cricket World Cup finals, and NFL overtime.
The Silver Dirham in Scandinavia: Viking-Age Trade
Explore how Islamic dirhams reached Scandinavia through trade routes linking the Caliphate with the Baltic and North Sea.
Song Dynasty Jiaozi: How Heavy Iron Coins Sparked Paper Money
Explore how heavy iron coin strings in Song-era Sichuan helped drive the development of paper money.
Wadō Kaichin: Was It Japan's First Coin? | cointoss.uk
A source-led look at Wadō Kaichin, Japan's 708 coinage: the copper discovery, the inscription, the earlier Fuhon question, and what museum objects can actually tell us.
The Persian Daric: Darius the Great's Gold Archer
Discover the Persian Daric, Darius the Great's high-fineness gold coin stamped with a running royal archer and used across the Achaemenid world.
The Venetian Zecchino: High-Fineness Gold Coin
Explore the Venetian ducat or zecchino, a high-fineness gold coin whose stable standard supported trade across the Mediterranean.
Offa's Penny and the Coin Copied From Islam
How Offa of Mercia replaced the sceatta with the broad penny in the 760s, and why his mint once copied an Abbasid gold dinar, Arabic script and all, with OFFA REX squeezed in upside down.
The Byzantine Solidus: A Long-Lived Gold Coin
Explore the Byzantine solidus, its gold standard, and the long monetary history behind the bezant.
Olmec & Mayan Cacao Beans: The Money That Grew on Trees
Learn how cacao beans circulated in some Mesoamerican markets, alongside high-value objects sometimes described as axe money.
Why the Roman Denarius Lost Its Silver
The denarius went from roughly 98% silver under Augustus to about 5% by 268 AD. A dated look at the debasement, the trick coins, and what runaway prices did to ordinary Romans.
Celtic Potin Coins: Cast Bronze Beasts of Britain
Discover Celtic potin coins, cast bronze issues from Iron Age Britain with stylised designs influenced by continental coinage.
Why Athens Froze Its Coin Design for 300 Years
The Athenian owl tetradrachm kept the same Athena and owl design for roughly three centuries and circulated from Spain to Afghanistan. Why Athens never redesigned its most successful export.
Cowrie Shell Currency: Exchange across Asia, Africa and the Pacific
Discover how cowrie shells served as money and objects of wealth across parts of Asia, Africa, and the Pacific.
Viking Hacksilver & Cut Dirhams: Money Measured by the Axe
Explore Viking hacksilver and cut Islamic dirhams, and how weight and silver quality shaped some Norse exchanges.
Aksumite Gold Coins of King Endubis
Explore the gold, silver, and bronze coinage of the Kingdom of Aksum and its Red Sea trading world.
When Chinese Money Was Shaped Like Tools
How spade money and knife money worked in Zhou-era China, why coins looked like farm tools and weapons, and how the Qin round cash coin replaced them in 221 BC.
The Lydian Stater: Electrum, Croeseids and Early Coinage
Explore Lydian electrum and Croeseid coinage, from early stamped metal issues to the gold and silver standards associated with Croesus.
The Rai Stones of Yap: Limestone Exchange Objects
Discover the rai stones of Yap, giant limestone exchange objects whose ownership could change without the stones being moved.