A brief history of money from ancient times to the present day

A brief history of money from ancient times to the present day

Prepared by a student Rustamov Elyor

Three pistoles, five escudos, bitcoin The life of modern society is difficult to imagine without money, a universal measure of the value of goods and services in all their endless diversity. This is the common denominator that allows you to compare the value of a cup of coffee and an English lesson, a space rocket and an ancient amphora, a train ride and a phone call to your grandmother. Perhaps, for some, money is indeed a kind of root of evil, but in essence it is only a universal commodity, in units of which various material and non-material benefits can be counted. But, of course, this was not always the case.

Goods for Goods At the dawn of mankind, people did not need money. However, with the formation of the first organized societies, the development of agriculture and crafts, people had a need to exchange the things they produced. To cultivate the field, the peasant needed the tools that the blacksmith produced. Tom, of course, needed something to eat, and this something was exactly what the peasant grew. Both needed dishes made by a potter, and at the same time, clothes that could only be found from a weaver.

At first, the ancient economy functioned on the basis of a direct barter exchange of goods, which was rather inconvenient, since each participant in economic activity had to look for a seller who would be ready to exchange their goods for him. However, over time, people noticed that some things are much easier to sell than others. Almost everyone needed grain as a reliable and easy-to-storage source of calories. In the northern area, almost everyone had a need for well-retaining fur. It was these popular goods that became the first commodity money, which was a product that could always be easily sold. The potter could fearlessly accept payment for pots of grain, even if he did not need it, because he knew for sure that it would not be difficult for him to exchange it for what he needed.