Alan Ereira

And these marked in divisions, and archaeologists refer to them as chocolate bars. You can break a bit off and do your deal with that bit. And these turn up, for example, at Troy. They don't come from Troy, and we don't know quite where they've come from, but they travel around with the traders. And the traders are traveling long distances. There's a trade route that goes from Babylon to Troy.

That's 2,000 kilometers. That's a heck of a walk. It's going to take months. So you want the material you're trading to be as compact as possible. And it's much easier to do a trade with a bar of electrum than with 15 such bars of silver, which is what you would need to get the sense of equivalence, or 200 sacks of wool or whatever. So the bar of electrum is a very handy, useful object.

That's 2,000 kilometers. That's a heck of a walk. It's going to take months. So you want the material you're trading to be as compact as possible. And it's much easier to do a trade with a bar of electrum than with 15 such bars of silver, which is what you would need to get the sense of equivalence, or 200 sacks of wool or whatever. So the bar of electrum is a very handy, useful object.

That's 2,000 kilometers. That's a heck of a walk. It's going to take months. So you want the material you're trading to be as compact as possible. And it's much easier to do a trade with a bar of electrum than with 15 such bars of silver, which is what you would need to get the sense of equivalence, or 200 sacks of wool or whatever. So the bar of electrum is a very handy, useful object.

And the problem is that to do the trade, at the point where an exchange is being done, you've got to have an assessment of what this material actually contains. So there has got to be at the trade center an expert who is trusted by everybody, who will assay the lumps of material and tell you what they're actually worth. And if you don't do the trade, you've got to go somewhere else and find another

And the problem is that to do the trade, at the point where an exchange is being done, you've got to have an assessment of what this material actually contains. So there has got to be at the trade center an expert who is trusted by everybody, who will assay the lumps of material and tell you what they're actually worth. And if you don't do the trade, you've got to go somewhere else and find another

And the problem is that to do the trade, at the point where an exchange is being done, you've got to have an assessment of what this material actually contains. So there has got to be at the trade center an expert who is trusted by everybody, who will assay the lumps of material and tell you what they're actually worth. And if you don't do the trade, you've got to go somewhere else and find another

equally qualified equally trusted dealer that must be one of the most highly sought after jobs at that time for weighing the purity yes they used a touchstone to do it you know a touchstone is a stone where you have sticks of different grades of gold different levels of alloy and you make a mark on the stone with it and you compare it with the mark made by the lump that you're testing

equally qualified equally trusted dealer that must be one of the most highly sought after jobs at that time for weighing the purity yes they used a touchstone to do it you know a touchstone is a stone where you have sticks of different grades of gold different levels of alloy and you make a mark on the stone with it and you compare it with the mark made by the lump that you're testing

equally qualified equally trusted dealer that must be one of the most highly sought after jobs at that time for weighing the purity yes they used a touchstone to do it you know a touchstone is a stone where you have sticks of different grades of gold different levels of alloy and you make a mark on the stone with it and you compare it with the mark made by the lump that you're testing

And we still use that word touchstone to have that sense of jeopardy, something that it's a heightened moment testing the alloy. Much easier to find a way around it. Now, at the crossroads on this trade route up towards Troy is the kingdom of Lydia. The king of Lydia, his kingdom is rooted in Sardis. Sardis is a huge market center, a bazaar of a fabulous scale.

And we still use that word touchstone to have that sense of jeopardy, something that it's a heightened moment testing the alloy. Much easier to find a way around it. Now, at the crossroads on this trade route up towards Troy is the kingdom of Lydia. The king of Lydia, his kingdom is rooted in Sardis. Sardis is a huge market center, a bazaar of a fabulous scale.

And we still use that word touchstone to have that sense of jeopardy, something that it's a heightened moment testing the alloy. Much easier to find a way around it. Now, at the crossroads on this trade route up towards Troy is the kingdom of Lydia. The king of Lydia, his kingdom is rooted in Sardis. Sardis is a huge market center, a bazaar of a fabulous scale.

The world comes through Sardis and the market in Sardis for travelers who have been traveling for two, three months before they get there is a great and exciting and thrilling place. and a wonderful place to do deals. And the king comes up with this wonderful notion that he will offer the traders a deal.

The world comes through Sardis and the market in Sardis for travelers who have been traveling for two, three months before they get there is a great and exciting and thrilling place. and a wonderful place to do deals. And the king comes up with this wonderful notion that he will offer the traders a deal.

The world comes through Sardis and the market in Sardis for travelers who have been traveling for two, three months before they get there is a great and exciting and thrilling place. and a wonderful place to do deals. And the king comes up with this wonderful notion that he will offer the traders a deal.

If they hand over the electrum they brought, he'll get it assessed and he'll give them back tokens made of electrum to his own specifications and stamped with his personal badge. And these are the first coins.

If they hand over the electrum they brought, he'll get it assessed and he'll give them back tokens made of electrum to his own specifications and stamped with his personal badge. And these are the first coins.

If they hand over the electrum they brought, he'll get it assessed and he'll give them back tokens made of electrum to his own specifications and stamped with his personal badge. And these are the first coins.

Aliates, exactly. And you get an invention of currency going on in China. You get an invention of currency going on in India, probably roughly the same time. But it's not well documented and it's difficult to work out exactly what's happening. Whereas in Lydia, it's much easier. The source material is much better. The archaeology is also much better.