It is impossible to imagine the modern world without money. They are an integral part of our lives, and everyone is so used to using them that they don’t even think about how money appeared. And this story is very interesting, and everyone should know it.
It's hard to imagine, but there were times when money didn't exist at all. Each person provided for himself, grew his own food, built houses, sewed clothes. This was the period of the traditional economy, when there was no exchange at all between people. Then the person realized that it is much more convenient to do one thing, which is better than others, and share the fruits of his labor with his fellow tribesmen. Economists call this period the stage of the division of labor, when a natural exchange, or barter, appeared between people. Cows were exchanged for grain, skins for firewood, and s alt for honey. But what if you have a big cow and all you need is a new spear? Do not divide the cow into several parts! Then a person came to understand that you need to have some one product that can be easily exchanged for everything you need. From this moment begins the real story of how money appeared.
Each nation had its first money. Slavictribes they were animal skins and s alt bars, the Indians of South America - pearls, in New Zealand there were large round stones with holes in the middle, and in China - shells of the Kauri mollusk. But even this "money" was not always convenient in exchange; it wore out, deteriorated, broke, or was too heavy to transport. Therefore, it was decided to replace them with metal bars, and later with coins.
The story of how money appeared in the form of coins familiar to us begins in the Lydian kingdom and Ancient China in the 7th century BC. They were minted from an alloy of gold and silver, depicting the symbols of the state and the ruling monarch. However, they did not immediately receive a wide circulation; people were accustomed to changing animal skins for tea and sugar. Only in the 5th century BC in Persia, King Darius officially banned barter and ordered everyone to pay with coins. So minted money began to gradually gain popularity around the world.
The first paper money appeared in China at the beginning of the 10th century AD. They replaced coins in order to lighten the wallets of the rich, who had to drag multi-kilogram bags of gold behind them. The paper money of China was not like modern banknotes. They were dozens of times larger, and more like huge letters than money.
The story of how money appeared in Russia stands apart. For a long time, Russia did not have its own money at all, and there were coins from neighboring countries in circulation:oriental dirhams, European denarii. And only at the end of the 10th century, under Prince Vladimir, the minting of the first pieces of silver began, on which there was an image of the prince and the coat of arms of the Rurik family. However, not everyone used these coins, the people preferred the silver hryvnia - Novgorod money in the form of long silver bars. By the way, the word "ruble" came about precisely because of this hryvnia, which was chopped into small pieces to buy small goods.
In a word, it is impossible to say exactly where the money came from. They gradually arose all over the world, in every nation. Only one thing remains clear - the history of money, though confusing, is very interesting.
