Coins and paper money often depicted religious symbols.

The symbol of the cross was often used. The swastika, a cross symbol, decorated the Korinthian staters of the 6th century BC.

Crosses started to be seen as allegorical symbol of Christian belief starting in the 3rd century BC.

Carolingian coins and those from the middle ages often used the cross as religious symbol. This lead to the name of the Austrian Kreuzer ("crosser"), in circulation from 1510-1892.