Intheearlieststagesofman’sdevelopment
hehadnomoreneedofmoneythananimalshave.
Hewascontentwithsimpleformsofshelter
andfromnaturalmaterialsaroundhim,
hemadehisownroughtoolsandweapons.
however,hebegantowantbettershelter,
moreefficienttoolsandweapons,
andmorecomfortableclothing
thancouldbeprovidedbytheworkofhisownunskilledhands.
Forthesethingshehadtoturntotheskilledpeople
suchassmithsandcarpenterswhowerespringingupeverywhere.
Itwasthenthatthequestionofpaymentarose.
Atfirsthegotwhathewantedbyasimpleprocessofexchange.
Thesmithwhohadnotthetimetolookafterlandorcattle
fromthefarmerinexchangeforanaxeoraplough.
Butasmoreandmoregoodswhichhadnofixedexchangevalue
exchangebecametoocomplicatedtobesatisfactory.
whenthosewhomadethingswantedtogetstocksofwood,
buthadnothingtoofferinexchange
untiltheirfinishedgoodswereready.
Thusthedifficultiesofexchange
ledbydegreestotheinventionofmoney.
easilyhandledthingslikeseedsorshells
weregivenacertainvalueandthefarmer,
insteadofpayingthesmithforanewaxe
bygivinghimsomemeatorgrain,
gavehimsomanyshells.
Ifthesmithhadanyshellsleftwhenhehadboughthisfood,
hecouldgetstocksoftherawmaterialsofhistrade.
Insomecountriesquitelargethings
suchascowsorcamelsorevenbigflatstoneswereusedfortrade.
bearingvaluesaccordingtotherarityofthemetal
andthesizeofthepiecesofcoinswereused.
Moneyasweknowithadarrived.