We visited our grandkids, Locke, Rory and Ellie, a couple of weekends ago. It’s interesting how each generation of kids has different interests. Things that we were fascinated by, or liked, are of little or no interest to the little ones today.
I concluded from one conversation, that money doesn’t have the same meaning to kids that it once did… maybe it doesn’t have any meaning to them now. I can certainly understand why — even us old people don’t think about and handle money the same anymore.
Anyhow, this naturally got me to thinking about money and how it originated and who came up with the idea?
There are many theories about the origin of money. Money, in some way, shape or form, has been part of human history for at least the last 3,000 years. Many historians believe human beings have used cash currency for maybe 40.000 years.
First, people bartered — people made direct deals between two parties using desirable objects. Money came along later and its form evolved over time — from natural objects to coins to paper to digital versions.
Money, in and of itself, may or may not, have actual value: it can be a shell, a metal coin, or a piece of paper — or, something else. Its value depends on the importance that people place on it — as a medium of exchange, a unit of measurement, or a a storehouse for wealth.
The first region of the world to use an industrial facility to manufacture coins that could be used as currency was in a region of Europe called Lydia (modern-day Western Turkey,) in approximately 600 B.C. The Chinese were the first to devise a system of paper money, in approximately 770 B.C.
Most of the time, the terms “money” and “currency” are used interchangeably, there are several theories that suggest the terms are not identical. According to some theories, money is inherently an intangible concept, while currency is the tangible (physical) manifestation of the intangible concept of money.
The basic form of money is numbers — today, the basic form of currency is paper notes, coins, or plastic cards (credit or debit cards.)
Sometime around 700 – 800 B.C., the Chinese moved from using actual usable objects, such as tools and weapons, as a medium of exchange to using miniature replicas of the same objects that had been cast in bronze. These miniature objects didn’t prove to be practical and the tiny daggers, spades and hoes were eventually abandoned for objects in the shape of a circle. These objects became some of the first coins. Shortly thereafter, the Chinese moved from coins to paper money and they seemed to have a pretty good handle on the money supply and various denominations. It’s interesting that in the place where modern American bills say, “In God We Trust,” the Chinese inscription back then warned — “Those who are counterfeiting will be decapitated.”
So over the years money and/or currency has taken the form of iron, gold, beads, silver, shells and even live animals such as cows. And just in our lifetime more has changed more than we might think… just try offering your grandkids a quarter.
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