Category All About Money

          Long before currencies came into existence, people used different mediums for payment. One such medium was shells. They were exchanged for the goods and services one wanted.

         The history of shell money dates back to 3500 BC. It is believed to have been used since then on almost all continents- America, Asia, Africa and Australia. But the shells would differ.

         History records that portions cut and polished from cone shaped shells were used by the Ancient Sumerians, who were among the first to use shell money. Native Americans, on the other hand, used long-shelled molluscs.

         Australian tribes too, are known to have used varied kinds of shells. Interestingly, each tribe had their own peculiar shell money. Hence, the ‘currency’ of one tribe was rarely accepted among others. 

        We have seen that people, long before the invention of currencies, depended on the exchange of goods and services for getting by. But what were the things worthy of transaction? Strange enough, there were goods ranging from feathers to gold!

        Hard to believe, isn’t it? Well, historians note that small figures carved out of gold were used by the Aztecs for exchange, whereas rings of gold, copper and bronze were used by the Egyptians.

        In countries like India, cattle were largely used as a means of making payment. Those with a larger number of cattle were considered rich then, just as we now consider people with substantial savings wealthy. Yet another item of exchange was rice, as used by the Chinese.

        However, some countries followed ways that seemed quite unconventional- as in Papua New Guinea where people used canine teeth for bartering, or Ghana, where they used quart pebbles, Yap Island where they chose to trade lime stone discs, and the Solomon Islands where they resorted to the exchange of feathers!

        Studies show that the items of trade varied from country to country. Bartering of slaves too, was considered a mode of payment in Ancient Rome and Greece. But as time went on, goods were slowly replaced by other forms of money like shell money and salt money. 

         Exchanging a toy for another, or a book for a new one, seems interesting. But what would happen if you were to exchange your essentials for things that were equally necessary? Such a transaction, called bartering, is where two beneficiaries exchange goods and services without giving or taking money.

         This system was in practice centuries ago, before the invention of currencies. What began as an exchange of goods for meeting daily needs, later developed to the exchange of craft and fur items for expensive silk materials, spices, perfumes etc.

          One of the main drawbacks of the system was that it depended largely on trust and need. There was no warranty for the goods one received, nor were they given a worthy exchange every time. Besides that it is very time consuming.