ABSTRACT
When the Mongols conquered the Rum Saljuqs in 641 H/1243 AD, they gained possession of the birthplace of coinage. Stamped pieces of precious metal were first made in the southwestern interior of Anatolia in approximately 700 BC. Their use expanded east to the Iranian plateau and south to the maritime city-states, such as the Rhodian League, from which coins became part of the commercial life of the Greek peninsula. About 300 BC, the Greek political situation changed: the empire of the Athenian League, based on strategic ports with the land behind remaining in the hands of local “barbarians”, advanced to a new stage in Macedonia, the northern, almost land-locked area of the peninsula. Alexander claimed all the land but, like his southern Athenian predecessors, used cities as the controlling mechanism. As he marched east and south, he founded one city after another, leaving behind not only Greeks but also their customs. In this way, the habit of using money of hard metal dutifully followed the footsteps of Alexander: coinage entered Parthia, Bactria and India. The territorial limit of his armies was also the final point for the use of coins.
