   |
Before a medium of exchange was invented, people either had to make everything they needed or exchange the things they made or grew for those which others made or grew.
This system of exchanging one form of goods for another is known as barter.
Difficulties with this system followed. Sometimes the needs of people varied and a direct exchange was not possible. Soon it was evident that some article was necessary to serve as a measure of exchange.
Tobacco was used among early colonists in America. Bushmen in Africa used strings of flat beads cut from ostrich eggs. Cowrie shells were also used extensively by natives in Africa. A thousand years ago, furs were the medium of exchange in Russia. The skins could be used as a whole or cut in half or quarters for small purchases. Later, mediums varied from sugar to corn to whales' teeth and to tobacco, once again.
Moreover, as civilization progressed, the qualities of a suitable medium of exchange were recognized. A form was needed that would withstand wear and tear and was uniform in value so that a large quantity could be carried around at one time.
Therefore, gold and silver became the most acceptable commodities for the exchange of goods. The metal was cut up or cast into ornaments of known weight.
The chief problem in using these metals by weight alone was the absence of any indication of their metal content. Both metals can be alloyed with substantial proportions of base metal without changing in appearance. Some leaders of commerce in various countries decided their "coins" needed some form of guarantee. Thus, they stamped the metals with a seal of state or other marks as certificates of weight and quality.
Athens introduced the idea of the two-sided coin in sixth century B.C. using the goddess of wisdom Athena on one side and an owl, one of Athena's symbols, on the other.
The use of coins spread rapidly so that by the fifth century B.C. minting (the fabrication of coins) had become a common custom throughout the civilized world.
|
