Oddbean

The first standardized gold coins began circulation at around 550 BC in the Lydian empire Coins incurred minimal design changes until Sir Isaac Newton reimagined sovereign currency using science and philosophy Here's how Newton changed money, and helped inspire bitcoin 👇 https://m.primal.net/LAhN.jpg For over 2000 years before Newton, precious metal coins incurred theft known as coin clipping. A thief takes a pair of clippers and clips the edges of a few dozen coins. The clippings can then be melted down to form new coins. https://m.primal.net/LAhA.jpg Eventually, most of the coins became clipped, their value diminished and their function in trade lessened. It’s a challenge to find an ancient coin without evidence of clipping. https://m.primal.net/LAhD.jpg Newton discovered an elegant solution: the coin ridge Instead of trusting in the value of the coin received, anyone could now verify that the coin was legitimate and untampered with because a clip on a ridged coin would be very noticeable Mints around the world began implementing Newton’s design https://m.primal.net/LAhF.jpg Newton essentially invented a zero cost and instant tool for validating the legitimacy of currency used peer to peer transactions. And we see this design philosophy also present in bitcoin! Bitcoin recipients need a way to validate transactions at low cost. Instead of a few dozen ridges encircling a coin, bitcoiners have tens of thousands of nodes continuously monitoring the legitimacy of every transaction and minting of new bitcoin. https://m.primal.net/LAhJ.png In many ways, Sir Isaac Newton is the great godfather of bitcoin. He was the first person to use logic, math and philosophy to reapproach sovereign currency, leading to England’s gold standard’s development, eventually leading to a global gold standard. Although he isn’t referenced in The White Paper, we thank Newton because his invention of low cost currency security measures and the gold standard helped lay the foundation and inspiration for the bitcoin standard that we are all working towards https://m.primal.net/LAhM.jpg