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Money was invented before written history began. [1][2] Consequently, any story of how money first developed is mostly based on conjecture and logical inference. A significant amount of evidence establishes that many things were traded in ancient markets that could be described as a medium of exchange.
The Mesopotamian shekel – the first known form of currency – emerged nearly 5,000 years ago. The earliest known mints , where the elites of Lydia and Ionia used stamped silver and gold coins...
While the use of metal for money can be traced back to Babylon before 2000 BCE, standardized and certified coinage may not have existed until the 7th century BCE. According to many historians, it was during this time that the kingdom of Lydia (in present-day Turkey) issued the first regulated coins.
Learn the history of money, and how coins and paper money have become the primary exchange system of the modern world.
Cattle, which throughout history and across the globe have included not only cows but also sheep, camels, and other livestock, are the first and oldest form of money.
The invention of money is a complex and gradual process that evolved over thousands of years in response to the needs of human societies. Money, in its primitive forms, emerged as a solution to the limitations of barter systems, where individuals exchanged goods or services directly.
Adam Smith — the 18th-century Scottish economist and philosopher who penned The Wealth of Nations in 1776 — popularized the idea of currency evolving to replace barter. Some modern economic anthropologists, however, reject this claim.
Meanwhile, farther west during this era, in 600 BCE, metal coinage was invented when Lydia's King Alyattes minted what is believed to be the first official currency, the Lydian stater.
Ancient humans’ invention of money was a revolutionary milestone. It helped to drive the development of civilization, by making it easier not just to buy and sell goods, but to pay workers in...
Money, a commodity accepted by general consent as a medium of economic exchange. It is the medium in which prices and values are expressed; as currency, it circulates anonymously from person to person and country to country, thus facilitating trade, and it is the principal measure of wealth.