Precious metal coinages and the mass disbursements of imported wine, attested in a few regions archaeologically, fit comfortably into an analysis of this kind.
The frequent success of commodity, precious metal and import merchants best illustrates this phenomenon.
Thus coins competed with the aristocratic value system, in which the exchange of precious metal played an important role.
It is so covered with gold on all sides, that it seems to be altogether made of this precious metal.
The author singles out this arcane juxtaposition in which precious metal currencies circulated side by side with small currencies, and designates it as heterogeneousness or asymmetry in money.
Working with the flat, reflective surfaces of precious metal is rather like working with words as the steeple-jack puts gold armour plating on the steeple to protect it from corrosion.$!
One pattern remained constant over time: following the higher valuation in the east, precious metal tended to appreciate incrementally in value as it moved from west to east.
The fact that the pendant is made of lead, not of a precious metal, might suggest that it belonged to someone who had made a vow of poverty.
