We’ve been to lots of places in the world and we have currencies from all or most of those places. We even have some “coin dolls” from Indonesia that are made from old Indonesian money.
When I was in China, an “old” Chinese worker told me about Cowry shells. I had never heard of them before — they are marine snails that have brightly colored and patterned shells. But my friend told me that they were the medium of exchange used in China abound 1200 B.C. The shells were so widely traded that their appearance or “pictograph” became the symbol for money in their early written language. In fact, the early metallic money in China was cowries made of bronze or copper.
But apparently cows represent the oldest of all forms of money. The words “capital,” “chattels,” (an item of personal property,) and “cattle” have a common root, and the word “pecuniary” (meaning “financial”) comes from pecus, the Latin word for cattle. But — cattle weren’t the only livestock used as legal tender. Until well into the 20th century, the Kirghiz (indigenous people of central Asia — found primarily in Kyrgyzstan) used horses for large exchanges, sheep for lesser trades, and lambskins for barters that required only small change.
Throughout history, salt and pepper have been used as money, mostly because of their value as seasonings and preservatives and for their importance in religious ceremonies. In ancient Rome, salt was used as money (Sal, the Latin word for salt, is the root of the English word “salary.”) If you’re interested, search this blogs archives for “salt” for more information. Roman workers were paid with salt, hence the expression “worth one’s salt.” And — in England in the Middle Ages, rent could be paid in peppercorns.
I think the largest pieces of money are 12-foot limestone coins from the Micronesian island of Yap. A coin’s value was determined by its size. Displaying a large one outside your home was a sign of status and prestige. Because of the coins’ size and immobility, islanders would often trade only promises of ownership instead of the actual coins. Several thousand coins still exist around the island, though the U.S. dollar is now the official currency.
So these currencies sound strange to us, but just think about it — our grandkids will find it hard to believe we used coins and paper money to pay for things. Their idea of money is a rectangular plastic thing…..
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