[geeks] Now for something completely geek

[Mike Meredith]

On Sun, 27 Aug 2006 23:24:45 -0400, Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> Also, until Rome actually got currency flowing well enough, there
> wasn't a lot of benefit to it anyway.  Local currencies were useless
> unless they were pure metals, and even then it could be hard to trade
> with across distances and/or with people who didn't know it.  Barter
> just worked better.

Pretty much all early currencies were precious metal based precisely
because they could be used in remote places (and times considering
hording was common).

I'm not sure how much barter trading went on in the post-Roman world. As
much of the trade at that time was in luxury goods, bartering may well
have been rather inconvenient ... a trader bringing in high value
artwork in a small boat may not have been best pleased with being
offered a dozen cattle to take away.

> In particular, look at the Huns and Visigoths.  They both horded gold
> and currency but didn't use it.  It was for bribing those who did, and
> buying off Rome or buying things from Rome.

Hording could well have been common for another reason, at least in the
post-Roman world. It would have been the most sane method of building up
wealth to 'upgrade' to a larger piece of land. Even if buying or selling
of land wasn't an option (it isn't in a purely feudal society but
Anglo-Saxon Britain wasn't purely feudal), it could probably used to
buy fiefdoms ... if you wait for a corrupt king who needs cash.