For a long time, our distant ancestors did without money. They obtained everything necessary for life by hunting, farming, gathering, or produced by the forces of their clan (neighboring) community. However, with the development of society and the improvement of the tools of labor, people's needs increased, and the need arose for some kind of universal medium of exchange with which it was possible to purchase products or articles from other clans, families. So the first money gradually began to appear.
What was used as the first money
A modern person knows from childhood that cash is paper banknotes or coins. In ancient times, everything was different. Various natural or artificial objects, which were well known to many people, were in demand, and could also be stored for a long time without losing their qualities, could serve as money.
The ancient Aztecs, for example, used cocoa beans as money, many peoples of Africa - salt, the tribes of Polynesia - beautiful sea shells, and the ancient Slavs - skins of fur animals.
When humanity was at a low level of development, the so-called subsistence economy prevailed. That is, everything necessary for life was obtained and manufactured by the forces of members of a particular clan or a separate family. The exchange of products, products of their labor with other clans or families was also natural. For example, instead of honey collected from forest bees, you could get a tanned skin.
Subsequently, metal objects began to play the role of money more and more often. Gradually, banknotes - coins began to be cast from the molten metal. They quickly gained recognition. Gold was especially appreciated due to the fact that it is not widespread in nature and can be stored practically forever.
How money actually became money
With the advent of coins, the number of merchants has grown significantly. The wealthiest of them traveled long distances to sell and buy goods. However, taking a large amount of metal money with you was not easy (due to its weight) and unprofitable (after all, they took up the place where the goods could have been). Then some enterprising person first came up with the idea: to leave his money for safekeeping to people he trusted, receiving in return a written commitment to return the entire amount on demand. This is how the first bankers appeared who deal with paper money - "obligations".
Over time, such written obligations began to be presented for payment not only to bankers who accepted money for safekeeping, but also to their partners in other cities.
With the further development of society, the need arose for real paper money, instead of metal money. After all, the coins were heavy, inconvenient to store. In addition, a lot of metal was required for production needs. Gradually, paper notes were becoming more widespread. And since the beginning of the 19th century, paper money has spread almost all over the world, becoming the main universal means of payment and exchange.
