Medieval Hebrew word for money. Of course we have a few words too. A
scant selection would be: Cabbage – Chinkers – Chips – Shekels –
Holy Stones (I’m diggin’ deep here folks) – Gilt – Ocher –
Lettuce – Hay – Wad – Dough – Sock. the list is endless. There’s
Sugar and Honey and Dinero and Ammo. Got any Ammo? Yeah. Sure thing
babe. How much do you want?
If it’s in the form of coin. there are more words. If the coins are
gold. there are more words still. Ever hear of a phrase that was
once used for get-rich-quick schemes. Ever hear of ‘As rich as
Croesus’? Psst. Hey. C’mere pal. Wanna get rich as Croesus? Hell yeah
man. But who the bejeezers is Croesus?
Ah. Croesus. Good old King Croesus who once lived in an are now known
as western Turkey. Back then it was Lydia–a middle eastern power
that thrived about 3000 years ago. And King Croesus was rich. More
money than Midas. It was his coins that gave him might. Gold coins.
Croesus introduced coinage to the world. Before him. if I’m reading
this right… there were no coins. How much for that Ox old friend.
Twenty three first grade cow udders for you. Anybody else. twenty
seven udders. Hey Matilda. Bring Bessie and some of her friends over.
Sometimes it’s tough trying to distinguish one udder from the udder
udder.
Croesus’ coins were a sight to behold. Different shapes. Different
sizes. Different designs. What do we have today. A round two bit coin
with a picture of a bewigged president. Nice to look at. Easy to
feel. But no pizzazz. Zero glamour. Little heft. No worth.
Croesus made something special. Oblong in shape. Squeezed in the
middle. And in lieu of a bewigged president. a lion and a bull facing
each other. readying for combat. And instead of nickel. gold. Minted
around 550 BC.
Croesus of Lydia transformed the economy of the day. He enabled
inter-city and inter-country trade. They didn’t want cow udders over
in the next town. They wanted coin of the realm. Gimme a couple of
Croesus. Bull and Lion coins. and I’ll give you my chariot. Everybody
was happy.
The need grew. Ol’ Croe was rakin’ it in. The mints were working
overtime. Tote that barge. Fill that bale. Make more money or you’re
goin’ to jail. And the system became refined. Croesus started issuing
standard weights and standard purity. Want reliable coin. use Croesus
money. His was the gold standard. It was pure. Heated in a pot with
sodium chloride ( salt) to 800 degrees centigrade and you ended up
pretty near close to 24 karat metal.
So. perhaps there are a scant few of you out there who would like to
see a Croesus coin. a bull and a lion perhaps. in mortal combat.
deeply etched in an oval gold pinched in the middle shape. known
today as a coin.
How much for that lollipop sir? A penny? A nickel? A dime perhaps?
Nah. Just give me some bull.
Okay. The end. You know the rest. The visit to the image… also
known as the viewing experience. You know where. Home page.
http://www.tyler-adam.com. Scroll down. Left side. Tidbits. Click.
And there for your sensory optic pleasure you will see an image of a
king Croesus gold coin with a bull and a lion readying for mortal
combat.