Have you ever wondered how it happened that people invented money and began to actively use it to pay for goods or services? And when did this first happen and who invented money? We suggest talking about it. In this article we will try to understand history of the origin of money and we will try to answer all the questions raised above. Agree, the topic is quite interesting.
Barter is the predecessor of money
We should start with the fact that money is a fairly ancient invention of mankind. Today we are very accustomed to it, but there were times when people could do without it. We are not talking about the times when we were still Cro-Magnons. Even later, during the existence of civilizations and ancient cities, there was a period when people had not yet invented first money and managed without them.
At that time, exchange was a fairly popular phenomenon. This is the so-called barter. Direct exchange of goods or services existed for quite a long time. For people of that time, it was quite convenient. If necessary, people actively exchanged what they had. However, barter had significant drawbacks. Of course, the main problem was the lack of a single measure of value, and this complicated the exchange. How to understand the value of a particular thing? In addition, some goods were inconvenient to transport or quickly spoiled, such as food.
Most likely, this led humanity to the need to have a certain universal equivalent of the value of various goods or services. In essence, origin of money That's where it starts. Over time, they become a convenient medium of exchange and a measure of value.
The first forms of money
Today, when we think of finance, we immediately think of coins and banknotes. We should not forget about the various electronic products that exist in the twenty-first century.
Do you know about commodity money? They served as a general equivalent and depended on the specifics of the region. In different cultures, money could be grain, cattle, salt, shells, furs, or even spices. For example, somewhere in the East, something could cost two camels, in Ancient Egypt, they were paid in grain and the like.
Commodity money had its advantages over barter, but it was still not an ideal means of payment. When it comes to precious stones, they can be carried in a pocket or carry-on, but when it comes to camels, certain difficulties arise. It is these problems that led to the need to create more versatile and durable forms.
The invention of metal money
Later, people began to use specie. History of money in the modern sense begins at this stage. Initially, these were pieces of metal of various shapes, which were valued by weight. Over time, metal money evolved into first coins. It was, without exaggeration, a real breakthrough. Due to their small size, they were very convenient to have with you at all times. In addition, they were a unified means of exchange, which was so lacking before.
This chapter of our history began Lydian coins. This interesting name comes from the fact that the first coins appeared in the 7th century BC in the Lydian kingdom. Speaking from the point of view of modern geography, this is the territory of Turkey. Later, other cultures adopted this experience. These coins were made from an alloy of gold and silver. This alloy has an interesting name - electrum. And what is interesting, it is still used for other purposes today.
The emergence of paper money
This happened two hundred years later. It is believed that the first "banknotes" appeared in the 9th century AD, during the Tang Dynasty in China. In fact, they were not exactly the banknotes that we all know well in our time. It would be more correct to say that they were not paper money, and receipts, but it was they who laid the foundation for this direction of financial evolution. In fact, no one invented them. It happened spontaneously, almost by itself. They simply began to replace heavy metal coins. Someone did it for the first time and then everyone started doing it because of the convenience of this format of transactions. Even later, in the 10th century, paper money became the official means of payment in China.
What about Europe? This invention came to this territory much later. The first European country to introduce banknotes was Switzerland. This was already in the 17th century.
Money on Ukrainian lands
When did the first money appear in Ukraine? The first money appeared in Ukrainian territories during the era of Kievan Rus. It is believed that the first were silver coins/silver coins – coins made of silver. We are talking about the Silver Coins of Volodymyr the Great and Svyatoslav Yaroslavich. They were minted in the Kievan state in the late 10th - early 11th centuries.
There were also zlatniki (gold coins), minted by the Grand Prince of Kiev, Volodymyr Svyatoslavovych, at the end of the 10th century. They testify to a high level of economic development and active trade relations with other states.
There were also hryvnias – weighted pieces of silver that served as a general equivalent.
By the way, there is an interesting version. Many scientists support the hypothesis that not all the coins found were actually circulating money. Some could simply be signs of power, especially those with the inscription: "Vladimir on the table, and this is his silver."
You can see them in museums. Visiting them will allow you to get acquainted with unique examples of the monetary heritage of our state. In total, the museum collections contain about four hundred coins.
They are in the exhibitions:
- Museum of Money of the National Bank of Ukraine (Kyiv);
- Odessa Museum of Numismatics (Odesa);
- National Museum of the History of Ukraine (Kyiv).
To summarize the above
The evolution of money – This is really a very interesting topic to study. You can continue searching for information on the Internet. It is especially interesting to search for information about Where did the first money appear?You may even be able to find more accurate data or even specific references in historical documents.
History is an extremely fascinating science, because it hides many secrets and mysteries that are interesting to solve. Thanks to the Internet, this has become much easier, because access to historical, including archival, documents is possible at any time and from anywhere in the world.
