Why did money appear?

What is money? We can say that they are the equivalent of those goods that a person produces in his daily activities. It is clear that the money did not appear immediately. Ancient people did without them, and used natural exchange. But in view of the fact that this type of calculation is rather inconvenient, they still came to money. Thus, banknotes can be classified as one of the most ingenious inventions of man.

To understand how money arose and understand its essence, you need to go back several centuries and see how our ancestors managed without them. In primitive society, people were subsistence farming. To put it simply, they tried to produce everything they needed for themselves. For some time it was possible, but as human society developed, the needs of people grew. It was no longer possible to manufacture everything necessary in one household, since narrow specialization was required for the production of a number of items. This is how barter appeared, which boiled down to the exchange of goods for goods, and with it, the primitive concept of value.

It is clear that such a state of affairs could not suit people for a long time, in view of its extreme inconvenience. That is why a person began to look for a universal means of payment for the purchased goods. It was then that the first trademarks arose, for which certain things were used: the skins of fur animals, live cattle, salt, sea pearls, etc. In the same China, Kuari mollusk shells were used as commodity money, and the indigenous population of the current used for calculations necklaces.

Time passed, and soon people began to use metals as banknotes. Initially, these were simple ingots, and a little later, products: nails, arrowheads, tools, dishes.

What we call modern money first appeared in ancient China. It happened in the 7th century BC. The resulting monetary system was called Miletus. It was represented by special coins, identical in weight and appearance. Starting from the fifth century BC, by order of the Persian king, silver and gold coins were introduced into circulation, with the simultaneous abolition of barter.

Why was money minted from gold? First, they were not subject to corrosion. Secondly, they had a long service life. Thirdly, they were not affected by inflation. Fourthly, in any country gold has always been in price. That is why gold is becoming the most important world currency. And so it is in our chaotic times.

At the same time, each country has its own national currency. These are cheaper banknotes made of silver and copper. A little later, paper money begins to be made, which has several degrees of protection, excluding their forgery. As for Europe, money began to circulate here only in the 7th century. These were Byzantine silver coins.