Most Valuable Ancient Raw Metal Commodities

Throughout the Iron Age, specific raw materials served as the 'currency' of trade, with high-value items often found in massive hoards along ancient waterways.

The top 3

1. Iron Bars (Ingots): The 'bipyramidal' iron bars like those from Deinham acted as standardized, portable wealth, facilitating mass production across distant Iron Age hubs.
2. Iron Blooms: Porous, spongy masses of iron resulting from the smelting process were the raw starting point for trade before forging, as evidenced by recent discoveries in the Carmel Lagoon.
3. Celtic Gold Staters: Gold staters served as the ultimate high-value prestige commodity, acting both as currency and as a store of value in the late Iron Age economy.

Sources

• Biblical Archaeology Society

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