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HIS33290

Academic Year 2026/2027

From Barter to Bitcoin: The History of Money in Europe and the West, c. 600 BCE – Present (HIS33290)

Subject:
History
College:
Arts & Humanities
School:
History
Level:
3 (Degree)
Credits:
10
Module Coordinator:
Assoc Professor Mark Jones
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

Money shapes almost every part of modern life — but we rarely stop to ask what it actually is, or why we trust it? Why does a piece of paper, or a number on a screen, count as wealth? What gives money its legitimacy, and who gets to decide? This module traces the history of money in Europe and the Western world to answer these questions.

Beginning with pre-monetary economies in the ancient Mediterranean, the module explores how early societies traded and managed credit and debt before coins existed, and how the earliest currencies emerged to facilitate trade. From there, it follows money's transformation: from commodity money — coins valued for the metal they contained — to paper currency backed by a promise of coin or another commodity, and finally to the fiat money we use today, the value of which rests entirely on trust in the authority that issues it.


Questions around money are explored through case studies spanning empires, revolutions, and crises: the rise and fall of Roman imperial currency, Britain's financial revolutions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, colonial paper money experiments, and the nineteenth-century gold standard debates in the U.S., UK, and Ireland.

By the end of the module, students will be equipped to ask whether money today is still a genuine store of value, or whether that value is really just a collective agreement — a symbol whose worth depends purely on state authority and shared belief. Working closely with historical and contemporary primary sources, students will discover that the history of money is really a history of people, power, and trust. No background in economics or finance is required.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this course you should have:
• an understanding of the main issues and debates concerning the history of money in Europe and the Western world
• an awareness of the historical and intellectual context in which debates about the meaning of money have developed
• developed skills in dealing with primary and secondary sources
• experience of working and learning with others
• developed your skills in written analysis

Indicative Module Content:

Week 1: What problems does money solve? From Barter to Coinage and the Origins of Political Economy

Week 2: The Creation of Coinage: Standardisation, State Authority, and the Politics of Money in the Ancient Mediterranean

Week 3: Imperial Rome: How Do You Control Money Across an Empire?

Week 4: Money and Trade: Bills of Exchange, Merchant Networks, and Financing Trade in Medieval Europe

Week 5: Can Money Exist Without Intrinsic Value? Paper Money Experiments in Early Modern Europe

Week 6: Financial Revolutions: National Debt, Banking, and War in Late Seventeenth-Century Britain

Week 7: Colonial Money: Paper Currency, Coin Scarcity, and Authority in the American Colonies

Week 8: Reading Week

Week 9: Should Money Be Gold, Silver, or Both? The Bimetallic Debate and the Recurring Question of What Backs Money

Week 10: The Transition from Gold Standard to Fiat Money: The Collapse of Metallic Backing and the Rise of Managed Currency (1914-1980s)

•Week 11: Can Money Exist Without the State? Eighteenth Century Free Banking, Cryptocurrency, and the Question of Monetary Control

•Week 12: Conclusions

UNESCO highlights a set of key competencies that support individuals in their development and support society in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). UCD has adapted these competencies and is combining them with others to form a general framework of learning competencies. This module will help you develop the competencies below to the levels specified. 
Learning Competency Additional Information Level

Collaboration

 The ability to learn from others; to understand and respect the needs, perspectives and actions of others (empathy); to understand, relate to and be sensitive to others (empathic leadership); to deal with conflicts in a group; and to facilitate collaborative and participatory problem solving. Competent

Critical Thinking

 The ability to question norms, practices and opinions; to reflect on one’s own values, perceptions and actions. Competent

Systems Thinking

 The ability to recognize and understand relationships; to analyse complex systems; to think of how systems are embedded within different domains and different scales; and to deal with uncertainty. Advanced Beginner

Strategic

 The ability to collectively develop and implement innovative actions that further sustainability at the local level and further afield. Advanced Beginner

Integrated Problem Solving

 The overarching ability to apply different problem-solving frameworks to complex sustainability problems and develop viable, inclusive and equitable solution options that promote sustainable development, integrating the competencies in this list. Advanced Beginner

Self-awareness

 The ability to reflect on one’s own role in the local community and (global) society; to continually evaluate and further motivate one’s actions; and to deal with one’s feelings and desires. Competent

Normative

 The ability to understand and reflect on the norms and values that underlie one’s actions; and to negotiate values, principles, goals, and targets, in a context of conflicts of interest and trade-offs, uncertain knowledge and contradictions. Competent

Anticipatory

 The ability to understand and evaluate multiple scenarios for the future – possible, probable and desirable; to create one’s own visions for the future; to apply the precautionary principle; to assess the consequences of actions; and to deal with risks and changes. Advanced Beginner

Digital Literacy and Judgement

 The ability to access, evaluate, create and communicate information in digital environments; to engage critically, ethically and responsibly with digital technologies and digital information; to understand their opportunities, limitations, risks and impact on individual’s digital identities; and to exercise informed judgement in digital participation and decision-making. Competent

AI Literacy & Agency

 The ability to understand, critically evaluate and responsibly engage with artificial intelligence; to recognise how AI systems are shaped by human values; to assess their ethical, social and environmental implications; and to exercise human judgement, agency and accountability in AI-related contexts. Competent

Wellbeing

 Wellbeing is having the resources and skills to meet life's challenges, including attributes such as personal development skills, resilience, stress management, strengths, lifestyle skills, nutrition, physical activity, sleep, alcohol/substance use, academic skills, time management, goal setting, interpersonal skills, group work, communication. Competent

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


Goal Name Description Coverage

Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all 1
 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

11
Seminar (or Webinar)

22
Specified Learning Activities

95
Autonomous Student Learning

95
Total

223

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
This is a small-group, seminar-based module with 11 weeks of teaching delivered over a 12-week period (Week 8 is a reading week), consisting of a one-hour lecture and a two-hour seminar each week. The weekly lecture provides an overview of the week’s topic, focusing upon key historical trends, debates and events. The weekly seminar is focused upon individual active / task-based learning by means of class debates, discussion and student presentations. Advanced research, writing and citation skills are developed through a combined individual student presentation on primary sources and written essay, and a semester-long 3,000-4,000-word research project. Autonomous learning is advanced through student-led debate and discussion of set primary sources and / or student presentations each week.

Generative AI: The use of generative AI tools is not permitted for any assessed work in this module.

A proportion of written assignments in each module in the School of History are subject to moderation, meaning they undergo a second layer of review by another grader. This can include oral moderation meetings where the student is invited in for a short meeting with the module coordinator to discuss the assignment. Moderation contributes to better informed marking.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade In Module Component Repeat Offered
Participation in Learning Activities: Students are graded on their contribution to seminars throughout the semester. Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, Week 9, Week 10, Week 11, Week 12 Graded No
20
 No
Assignment(Including Essay): Semester-long research project: this is a paper of 3,000-4,000 words, covering topics from the syllabus or related monetary themes students discover independently. Week 12 Graded No
40
 No
Participation in Learning Activities: 15 minute class presentation in one of the weekly seminars (weeks 3-10). 1500 word written text submitted one week later. Week 11 Graded No
40
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
No
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, on an activity or draft prior to summative assessment
• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Both written and oral feedback will be provided on an ongoing basis over the semester. Feedback on the combined presentation/written assignment will be given in person and through written comments on the submitted document. Feedback on the end of semester essay will be given through written comments and by appointment in one-to-one meetings.

Name Role
Dr Andrew McDiarmid Lecturer / Co-Lecturer

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Mon 15:00 - 15:50
Autumn Seminar Offering 1 Week(s) - Autumn: All Weeks Tues 09:00 - 10:50
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