The right to mint
coins (allowing privileges and profits) belonged to the moneyers. The
profits were taken from the value of the individual coin minus the metal
value and the costs of stamping the coin. Today's moneyer is the state
and it decides how the currency looks and what it's called. Earlier the
private moneyer held the power over treasury and could set the course
of exchange and business way out of order.
In ancient
times a variety of cities had the right to stamp coins with the weight
and silver content according to the ruler or the law makers.
The Greek politician
and law maker Solon (ca. 640-560 BC) introduced a special monetary system
called the attic standard based on the Euboian coin standard. His goal
was to help Athens out of its debt and monetary crisis and to stabilise
the political situation. With the new currency he created favourable conditions
for Athens to become the leader in world trade. In order to protect this
position Solon introduced the death penalty for coin forgery.
The Roman senate
in the 3rd century BC held the right to mint coins.
When Roman troops
in the second Punic war (218-201 BC) were overpowered the senate allowed
gold coins to be minted that weighed a third less than before. They wanted
to assure that enough gold material was at the senate's disposal. This
was their right and not a deception. The deception was that the coins
had a copper core. It is unclear if the state allowed this kind of forgery
or if it came from private minters. These kinds of coins are called subaerati
or lined
coins.
Under the Carolinians (8-9 Century AD) the number of mints that had
the right coinage were reduced to a few. This development reversed itself
under the Ottoman rule in the 10-11th century AD. The emperor gave the
right to church leaders and princes that lead to an overabundance of minters.
Only in the second half of the 16th century with the help of the Reichsmünzordnungen
("Imperial Coin Laws") could a monteary unity be created. Still it was
often necessary to check the coins for their lawful authenticity.
The Government
holds the right to mint coinage or delegates it to private parties.