History of coinage, wearing around neck?

Try a Biblical concordance and the verse about a woman who loses a coin going to find it. They were strung on necklaces and kept on the person to be guarded and used as necessary.


(Luke 15:8-10)

Belt? Feed a thong through from a leather belt, tie them on.

I think in the main it would depend on how valuable each coin is. If it is an equivalent of a penny, you'd want a string of them in a pocket. If it is the equivalent of a gold sovereign, probably well hidden.

Patty said:

Within my story, it is useful if strings of coins were carried around traders necks, like necklaces. This could impact a fight scene I am writing. but I don't want to write that if it is historically inaccurate.

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Is this a historical piece? If so, specifically research the history of that location at that time. If not, why does historical significance come into play? Just make it work in your story.

Coins were strung by merchants and various money lenders, as well as royal treasuries, to make it easy to determine value. There were no bills, so paying $100 dollars meant handing over 100 dollar coins. If strung together and certified as that number, it was the equivalent of a $100 bill.

In most of the later world, accounts were kept by recognized groups, the precursors of banks, so money could change hands with a paper and a seal. The money stayed in the vaults, the paper represented the money. Venitians, as well as groups like the Templars, were big in this industry. Stable governments issued scrip, paper based on a monetary value like gold, which gradually got accepted in world trade. Eventually this paper currency lost its need for backing by precious metals or other value.

Much of the world used coins that could be split, or physically cut, into smaller bits of a lesser value. Pieces of Eight as a prime example. But larger transactions still required a chest of coins or valuables to pass between hands. Hard to stick a dozen chests in your billfold.

Jeff

In the case of the Chinese they were usually carried on their belts. A standard string of cash usually contained 1,000 coins (it was a unit of currency), but there were also "short strings" that contained fewer. A single coin might be worn around the neck as a good luck charm, but not actual spending money. Too easy to steal.