But the people defending the city walls still needed to be paid. Some city authorities called on their citizens to hand in precious metals, often in the form of jewellery. These objects were then melted down, cut into square plates of a specific weight, and stamped with texts and images. Now these emergency coins were ready for use. Once the siege was over, people were able to exchange these coins for normal money. Even centuries later, people sometimes resorted to using emergency coins. During the Second World War, for example, the hoarding of coins made of precious metals led to money shortages.
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