Commercial, carrying on commerce or trade.

Of what substances was Money usually made?

Of metals, especially the precious metals, because they possess great value in small bulk; may be kept for any length of time without loss; and their value, although not altogether invariable, yet, generally speaking, changes only by slow degrees, and is less susceptible of fluctuation than that of most other articles.  At different times, and amongst various nations, however, other things, in the scarcity of metal, have been substituted for it, as shells, wood, leather, paper, or even pasteboard on extraordinary occasions.

     Fluctuation, unsteadiness; a wavering.

Of what form was money generally made?

The form of money has been more various than its materials; the ancient Britons used as money, rings or bars of iron or tin; the Lacedemonians used iron bars quenched with vinegar.  The money of most nations usually bore an impression peculiar to themselves, as, for instance, the sicle of the Jews was marked with the golden pot of manna on one side, and Aaron’s rod on the other; other coins with the figures of animals, &c.; in shape, coins were either round, irregular, or square.

Have the terms Money and Coin the same signification?

Not exactly; by money is understood any matters, such as metal, wood, leather, glass, horn, paper, fruits, shells, &c., which have currency as a medium in commerce.  Coin is a particular species always made of metal, and struck off according to a certain process called coining; it is not of equal antiquity with money.  In fact, the very commodities themselves were the first moneys, that is, were current one for another by way of exchange.  Coin is a piece of metal converted into money, by the impression of certain marks or figures thereon.  The first coining of silver took place at Rome, two hundred and sixty-nine, and of gold, two hundred and six years before Christ:  the Romans, after the commonwealth, stamped their coins with the image of the reigning emperor, which custom was followed by most civilized nations.  Coins were, and are, frequently, struck in commemoration of a particular event or celebrated person.

When was the use of stamped coin introduced into Britain?

After the arrival of the Romans in that island, the natives imitated them, coining both gold and silver with the images of their kings stamped upon them; but the Romans, when they subdued the nation, suppressed also their coins, and obliged them to use their own; hence the number of Roman coins found among the relics of antiquity in that island.

     Suppressed, put aside, hindered from circulation.

     Relics, remains.

What does the first coined money in ancient Britain appear to have been?

Copper money; but after the arrival of the Saxons in England, scarcely any copper money was used for many centuries, nor did it become common till 1672; it was first used in Scotland and Ireland in 1340.