An essential attribute of modern life is money as the main means of payment. These are paper bills, and metal coins, and plastic cards. But for a long period of human history, money did not exist and barter was practiced.
In-kind exchange: the history of occurrence
You can already talk about its origin among the tribes that lived in a primitive communal system. At that time, the economy was not very complex. To survive, people were engaged in gathering and hunting. Over time, they were able to domesticate animals and took up cattle breeding and farming.
Then there was a division of labor. Some worked in the field, others grazed cattle, others butchered carcasses, skinned dead animals. And later, specialization began to appear among the tribes. So, some of them were mainly engaged in agriculture, while others were engaged in cattle breeding, and others - in the production of any household items.
When a tribe began to produce more goods than it needs for consumption, surpluses began to form. There was a possibility of exchangetrade. That is, it was possible to exchange with another tribe, giving him the surplus and receiving the necessary things or products for this.
Exchange in Ancient Egypt
There it prevailed from the time of the Early Kingdom, which existed from 3000 to 2800 BC. e. Then, under the rule of the first two dynasties, the state apparatus and a layer of scribes - officials for its service were just beginning to be created.
Money didn't exist in the Old Kingdom. All settlements took place with the help of other goods, that is, through barter. The big officials received their income from their own property or from that which they managed on behalf of the ruler. The pharaoh himself was the largest landowner.
The Egyptians considered barter to be very convenient. All trading operations and the payment of salaries, the collection of taxes did without the use of money. It was possible, for example, to exchange grain for wood, goose, cattle. But at the same time there was an approximate measure of the cost of goods.
During the time of the New Kingdom, a spiral made of copper wire called “uten” acted as such a sample. It was used in barter in Egypt only in those cases when it was necessary to compensate for the difference that arose in the value of the exchanged goods.
But the price of the goods was usually measured according to the specified standard. In the temple of the Egyptian god Thoth, an image was found, on which there is a tax list. Next to each item there is its cost, whichmeasured in ducken.
There was another unit of value called "deben". It referred to the value of an item according to its weight.
It should be noted that Egypt had a high level of both internal and external barter, which contributed to its high level of development.
Valuable commodity for exchange
As such, as a rule, cattle acted. Horses were considered especially popular and valuable, and in Islamic countries - camels. In Egypt, grain was highly valued in this regard. There were even grain banks. So it was possible to pay for grain without resorting to its physical movement. The ancient Greeks created a grain central bank. The Slavs for a long time did not use grain, but the fur of fur-bearing animals or kuna. It is a skin cut into pieces.
How were taxes paid?
The question arises as to how taxes were paid in the absence of a monetary system. For example, in the same Egypt, landowners and peasants gave to the treasury part of their crops, as well as clothes and fabrics made by their wives and daughters. Numerous bureaucracy grew rich thanks to the kings. In exchange for their services, they received various gifts that were recorded in their name. They were taxed, and they paid with them.
Problems of barter
One of the biggest problems with bartering was the issue of valuation. To solve it, the proportions were calculated,for example, how many apples must be given for a dozen eggs. For the most part, it depended on random factors. The proportion could be determined in accordance with the need that a particular tribe had for a particular product, and also depended on who the seller was.
But that wasn't the only problem. For example, many of the goods depended on the season. Then the question arose of how to exchange apples for grain, if the potential buyer does not have the opportunity to store this perishable product. In this case, it was required to exchange it for something third, which did not depreciate so quickly over time. And then buy wheat. Thus, both triple and quadruple exchanges arose.
For example, someone has apples and needs boots. However, the shoemaker refuses apples, but wants wheat. Then you need to find a buyer who has wheat and needs apples, and then exchange the wheat for boots. The most profitable commodity was cattle, since it was not a perishable item. However, the animals need to be fed… Barter is such a difficult business.
Money transition
Gradually commodity money lost its relevance. They began to exchange for products, for example, teeth of sperm whales, shells, beads, tobacco. But we can talk about the origin of money, starting with the spread of metal. Initially, nails, rings, arrowheads, and utensils made of metal were exchanged. Later, ingots came into use, having a variety of shapes. They became analogues of coins.
In Italy, in the sanctuary of Apollo, during excavationsfound almost 300 kg of similar ingots. They were sacrificed to God to be healed of ailments. Thus, coins appeared, which, of course, were more convenient.
However, it would be a mistake to believe that barter is an attribute of the distant past and is an indicator of undeveloped economic relations. It should be noted that it was very popular in our country in the first time after the collapse of the Soviet Union under the name "barter". This was due to the difficulties that arose in the field of money circulation.
