Iron Coins Öffentlichkeit Deposited
There is a tradition that Lyeurgus banished gold and silver from Sparta, and compelled the Lacedaemonians to use small iron bars as money, and pro- claimed it to be the only legal tender. These bars or spits received the name of (Greek words).
At Tegea, Argos, and perhaps Heraea, iron was used in the fourth century B.C., and their types are similar to those of the silver coins of the same localities.
Iron money was employed in China during the Liang dynasty, A.D. 502-556, but was discarded in the latter year when the Tch'en dynasty came into power. An iron four Mon piece was issued in Japan in 1863, and iron coins were also struck by the feudal lords (Daimios) of Japan for exclusive use in their own dominions.
According to Schroeder (p. 47) iron coins were issued for Annam as early as A.D. 401.
The most recent coinages in iron are the German five and ten Pfennig pieces issued in 1915 on account of the scarcity of cop- per. See Kriegsfunfer.
- Frey's Dictionary (American Journal of Numismatics, Vol. 50, 1916)