The parallel use in the Achemenid period of Phoenician shekels and Athenian tetradrachms is an example of what would now be called a “multipolar international monetary system”. 4 The European citizens can remember this period when looking at the image of Europa, daughter of the king of Tyre, which is featured in the new series of euro banknotes.
5 Economies of scope suggest that these functions tend to reinforce each other. But an international currency does not need to fulfil all of them necessarily. For instance, the use of the Chinese renminbi as a store of value, i.e.