Did Spartans Only Use Iron Bars as Money?
Picture a Spartan at the market, lugging a bundle of heavy iron bars instead of coins. That image has stuck for centuries.
Unknown — "Idealized Head" (50 BCE–100 CE), CC0
The Iron Money Myth
We’re told Spartans shunned coins and carried fistfuls of clunky iron bars to market. A city of warriors with no use for wealth—just pure iron, too heavy to steal or bribe.
The Truth About Spartan Money
Spartans did adopt iron spits as a quirky form of currency, but never completely banned coins. Archaeologists have found foreign coins in Sparta and records of Spartans using gold, especially abroad. The iron bar story was partly propaganda—‘we’re tougher, poorer, less corrupt.’
How Did This Myth Spread?
Much of it comes from later writers like Plutarch, who romanticized Spartan virtue. He wasn’t there—he wrote centuries later, shaped by legend and moral fables. Real Spartans were pragmatic, not fanatics about metal.
Spartans did use large pieces of iron for currency, but this wasn't their main or only form of money—and they never banned silver and gold entirely. Archaeology shows they used foreign coins in trade and even minted their own small denominations later.
