Coins Around The World

The first European coins are regarded as having been minted ca. 550 BC in Aegina, an island in the Aegean Sea, with coins of Athens and Corinth soon following. The first Roman coins, which were crude, heavy cast bronzes, were issued ca. 289 BC. The first European coin to use Arabic numerals to date the year in which the coin was minted was the Swiss 1424 St. Gallen silver Plappart.
Coin debasement
Throughout history, governments have been known to create more coinage than their supply of precious metals would allow. By replacing some fraction of a coin's precious metal content with a base metal (often copper or nickel), the intrinsic value of each individual coin was reduced (thereby "debasing" their money), allowing the coining authority to produce more coins than would otherwise be possible. Debasement sometimes occurs in order to make the coin harder and therefore less likely to be worn down as quickly. Debasement of money almost always leads to price inflation unless price controls are also instituted by the governing authority, in which case a black market will often arise.