ABSTRACT
In recent years, the role of money in the Greek world has been at the centre of a vigorous debate as cultural historians and economic historians have advanced very different opinions on what impact money had on Greek society. This has been nowhere more so than regarding the beginnings of Greek coinage where historians and numismatists have rekindled their interest and come forward with a range of sophisticated interpretations for the origins, meaning and functions of money. The debate has at times become quite heated as the sides have clashed as much over differences in approach as in their eventual differences in conclusions.
