Journey Of Money From Ancient Times Till Date

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Money forms an important part of our lives. Without money we will be unable to survive as everything in the economy is liked to money. Money has reached such a position and become so powerful that many people have become slaves to money. Actually is money is a facility meant to be used for people for the purpose of carrying out buying and selling activity, saving for a rainy day and creation of wealth. It is a instrument to be used by humans to progress in life. Here I will be discussing the different forms of money during various stages of evolution of humans and the value it had in their lives at that point of time and how it affected the lives of people at different times. Money is nothing but a instrument created by man to see that it will make life easy for him and other humans in their trade undertaken in day to day life.

Services – Early man had threats to his life in ancient times and he needed security from more powerful people in their tribe and clan. What they used to do for protection is to provide services to the person protecting them. These services included providing personal services, taking care of the leaders place, getting food for him and other such services for this the person protecting them used to give a share of whatever food they used to collect and protect them in their process of getting the  same. This was an ancient form of money which existed.

Barter – Societies developed and evolved and there came some refinement in their lives too. There came specialization too in the trade or the field in which one would work. Each of them developed knowledge in the respective field they specialized like some grew crops, while some collected fruits, nuts, honey, firewood and similar other necessities from the forest and other places where the were available. All of them used to meet at a common meeting ground and each would take what he needed from the other who inturn would also accept whatever equivalent of the produce which the other had in exchange this system was called barter system and was there for a very long time. The surprising this particular system is there prevalent in rural areas and in some cases even in the cities too. It was a simple but effective concept which was used well successfully.

Beads And Stones – There were no metals at that time so people at that time also had a fascination for beads and stones which they wore as a necklace and as bangles in the hand or as anklets too. These were also used to identify and worship them as Gods  or supernatural beings or powers as they were rare to find. Beads were generally made from bones of animals hunted, claws or something found in the natural in the sand or soil at that time which was a naturally occurring but rare to find. Stones which were rare in shape, color, size and other such features also were used in exchange for food or other day to day requirements thus this was one form undeclared money which came into existence but its use was still being refined.

Clay Material And Metals  – As civilizations developed use of clay came into being and clay tablets, pottery, utensils and other such things were traded for food or similar things. Later came the Iron age and the Copper age. Metals like iron, copper, gold and others were mined and prepared as technology developed and such things could be prepared and given the required shape by people of those times. Towns and kingdoms game into being and so people also increased and kingship came into being. To identify people kings or chiefs used to give these valuables to the people whom they held in high esteem and felt important. If these people showed that then they were free to get entry into important places and also be entertained too. As people knew that it was the kings seal.

Precious Metals  And Shells – Gold, silver and valuable stones like diamonds, jade and other semi precious stones came to be discovered. Since things had advanced and kingdoms became more organized these metals gained more value but they were mostly used for the kings treasury or the royal family or other such important people. Shells were also used as currency till the beginning of twentieth century  in many currencies.

Coins – After many centuries the concept of coins with the impression and his signature came into being and this started being minted in large numbers as trade grew so did the number of people in the different kingdoms at that time. There were interactions between people of different kingdoms and there used to be exchange of coins for goods or services as these had value and also the royal seal too of a particular kingdom. This was the first time the concept of money came very near to what it is even today. This same procedure continued even till late seventeenth and eighteenth century too.

Minted Coins – This was the first money which was minted in the modern times during industrial revolution. The difference between this and the above coins was these were minted in large numbers and circulated they were in use and accepted by all the people in the kingdom. One more reason these came into being was due to the fact that valuable coins were being damaged, stolen or used for other purposes and the metal was rare to find. These coins were minted in silver, copper, nickel etc. This continues even today in many countries and is minted by the central banks of the respective countries.

Paper Currency – This came into existence as the coins were insufficient for the number of people in each country and there started a shortage of metal. To overcome this problem they started printing paper currency, this technology was also new and could be manufactured on a large scale compared to the minted coins faster. One more reason was there were many forests and lot of paper too could be procured for the purpose. It was also light and easy to carry. With so many advantages paper currency became a hit in different kingdoms in different parts of the world. ‘I OWE YOU’ was one more form of paper currency which used to exist here a person who owed money would write the ‘I OWE YOU’ and give it to the person whom he owed money. Once he paid the money to him the used to take back the ‘I OWE YOU’ from the person to whom he fulfilled payment. Paper currency is there in many countries even today. Plastic currency came later as paper and trees became less and plastic was invented. The advantage of plastic currency was that it did not get damaged easily as paper currency and plastic proved cheap to print compared to paper and they did not get damaged for a longer time.

Plastic Cards – Credit card, debit card, gift card, shopping card and other similar cards came into existence as this could be used worldwide as this was not the case above. One person had only one card in his name and that way he could have cards of different companies too. The advantage was they were automated, had insurance, could not be stolen as in the cash of coins and paper and plastic cash, payment could be made and products bought from anywhere in the world. They had a validity of more than five years.  If one did not need a card they could be easily destroyed too. With these and many other advantages they were a hit with customers and banks too.

Virtual Currency – This is a system where trading is done and currency transferred in the account from the persons account the only difference is there is no physical currency changing hands everything is done virtually electronically online through the internet. The advantage with this is physical exchange is not required, change happens electronically, money can be recalled if there are problems or issues from the person if something illegal happens. The problem is the person or company with whom you would want to trade should also have agreement with the company to accept the currency. If computers fail transaction cannot take place.

Electronic Currency – There are a list of options here like the services provided by the banks like wire transfer, online banking, electronic wallets, service providers who enable funds to be transferred at a small price for the service like paypal etc. and many other like online sale or purchase with delivery at home, buying and selling through mobile phone transactions with the help of applications etc. This list will diversify and grow further when technology too grows as time progresses. The concept here is paperless transactions and reliance of technology. The biggest risk is should technology fail markets and economy will crash and there will be chaos.

New things will come as humans progress in the field of technology and better enabling methods of transfer of funds is possible and movement of goods is effected. Dear readers what is you opinion about the journey of money from ancient times till date? If you feel there is something else which needs to be added in the list please do add to the list.