The History Of Money

What money do not. Known for saying that, even from the air, in fact, not too far from the truth. At different times in different people as the money used pieces of ivory, quartz, or zhadeita, cowrie shells, drums, bird eggs, metal tableware, leather, mats, nails, tips for arrows, bulls, pigs, rice, salt, bracelets and necklaces , Coils of yarn, decorated axes - and the list is not yet full.

Historians believe that money will appear at some stage of development of society - is inevitable and the same unique process at the same time as the formation of a national language. A primitive peoples on the basis of trade was barter, you are to me - I have you, but with time in this chain suddenly cut money. Why? One of the possible and frequent responses: for convenience, required some equivalent, through which grain could be equated to the reindeer skins.

Such a theory we are all familiar, but unfortunately, it does not explain why the equivalents chosen so different, and why did one time suddenly became uncomfortable without them do. These gaps filled with other scientists who hold the view that the first money, too, is a form of barter.

In each tribe, were subjects for one reason or another, the most valuable and therefore everyone. It is on them, each would have gladly traded anything, it is them as gifts teaching priests and chiefs, and sometimes even left at the altar for the gods. The notion of the value of such items was different - in one attractive convenient storage and transportation, while others - the strength and durability, in the third - a rarity in the fourth - attributed magical properties, or simply beautiful. Over time, they and the money was destined to become.

Traces of this transformation are preserved in some places almost to the present day. Thus, until 1949, the peoples of West Africa as money used manilly - ornamental metal jewelry. Signs of wealth and riches, in the literal sense of the words were there - happy manill wore them around their necks and hands. Similarly, there were necklaces of shells with Indian tribes in North America. The value and volume, and in another case, provided the picture - natural or specially caused.

The islands of Fiji necklace made from whale teeth, and called them "tambua. Even the sound of the word reminds us to some "taboo" that far from the truth: whale teeth were used for religious activities, and access to them had only chosen. Not as compact and easy to use was the stone discs with round holes, the money served the residents of coral islands until 1960, but they were also chosen because of their supposedly sacred nature.

Some people prefer to pay in agricultural products. Even first-world banks that have appeared in the II millennium BC in Mesopotamia, in reality, were normal granary. All calculations were performed exactly grains - real or a check payable to bearer. The system seemed very easy, was formalized in the Code of Hammurabi, and over time, even spread in Egypt. While in Egypt at that time already knew how to mint coins.

Interestingly, similarly, not only grain, and tobacco settle in Virginia back in the XVII century. And on the certificates reflect the number and quality of tobacco leaves instead of the real in the future, the U.S. state of crossed nothing less in 1727

Another frequent form of primitive money, strangely enough, acted livestock. While that is strange? First, animals have specific practical value, and secondly, was used for sacrifices, and therefore has a religious value. Finally, unlike corn or tobacco, it is easy to calculate it in pieces - that he preceded the appearance of the coins.
In many languages, for example, in Welsh, to describe the concepts of "cattle" and "good" is still used the same word. However, preserved, and much more tangible proof of the theory: even in the XX century from the Kyrgyz people as a major money used horse, smaller cuts - a sheep, and very very small change - sheep's clothing.

By minting of these coins of different nations to come in a variety of ways, but mostly metallic currency artificially implanted invaders. For example, it was with the Aztecs and Maya - until the emergence of Cortez, they easily make payments using coconuts.

A first, almost simultaneously and quite independently of each other, have a coin minted in China and in Asia Minor. Initially, the Chinese, like other peoples who lived on the shores of the Indian Ocean, were used as money cowrie shells.

In drevnekitayskom language, even the icon "money" in line with the figure cockleshells. Over time, whether cowrie longer suffice, or try the first forger - but the shells began to make copper and bronze.

As Lydia is thought to punch small round pieces of metal. First printing only guarantee the purity of the material, but soon began to mean a certain weight. So there were coins, with the help of merchants and conquerors quickly spread to the territory Ionii,
Greece and Persia.

Greek coins were to taste - every town has produced their own, as a sign of independence and autonomy. However, they differed only in appearance (for example, in Athens, they portrayed sovu, a symbol of the patron of the city of Athena Pallas) - The name was also common, dram, which originally meant in the first handful of grain. This sequel "to-cash" relationship, the time had to calculate the weight, and survived in the Bible: known talent before the coins were mean measure equal to 60 pounds of gold.

But back to the Greeks. In 407 BC during the war Spartans captured the Athenian silver mines, and the Athenians come to mint bronze coins with a thin silver coating. Naturally, from these "good" coins of the population is not eager to get rid, and the city was virtually destroyed.

Chinese emperors seem to have differed somewhat greater foresight. Copper coins are quiet - peaceful minted right up to 806 of our era, has not suddenly discovered that the copper inexorably coming to an end. Then decided not to waste the metal waste, and - for the first time in history - began to issue paper bank notes.

The experiment was successful, after 150 years of printing money on paper became the norm in the Middle Kingdom. Unfortunately, all ended tragically - the terrible inflation.

For inflation, we will return, but now is talk about money, who successfully survived to the present day. The most ancient, apparently, is the pound and pensions, coins called "penny" Saxon tribes started to die even before the conquest of the Vikings.

The origin of the name enveloped in mystery. According to one version, it goes back to the name of the Saxon King Pendé, on the other - was formed in consonance with the dishes, which smelt silver (the English word pan, meaning the pan seems related word penny, as evidenced by the existence of a similar pair in the German language: pfanne - pfennig ).

With respect to £, they appeared later. In the VIII century, in Britain there dump "sterling", corresponded 1 / 240 pound weight of silver. For the convenience of calculation 240 Sterling has been called "pounds", and eventually just "pound." And so it led, and even in 1717, when the decided to bring the gold standard, the pound has not finished its uschestvovanie, he "turned" to 7,32 g of pure gold. With time and forgot about this line, but there is still a pound.

Even more than the dollar has a long history. At first he was "German" and called the thaler, an abbreviation for "Joachim-staller, a silver coin with the image of St. Joachim, which were minted in 1519 at the end of the XIX century. After the reunification of Germany, the Germans switched to the modern brand, and the dollar continued its existence through the Spanish and English colonists.

By the time the money has long been felt strongly in the New World, but for convenience, the settlers became known as the U.S., all national currencies. The Americans already had cravings for all sorts of cuts, so instead of the English piece of eight (eighth) - What is the name of the continent the Spanish peso - they decided to draw cross eight. Later, she became well-acquainted us with the icon $.

At first the U.S. had gold and silver - so decided, in 1794 the Federal Government Philadelphia. In those days, in the same coin contained 24.75 g of pure gold. By 1934, the proportion decreased to 13.71 g, and the gold standard was formally repealed. Moreover, by this time have already lived U.S. paper or, more precisely - cotton. Since 1861, they were printed on special paper from a mixture of cotton and flax.

A year later, during the Civil War, to cover unforeseen expenses Army, the Federal Government decided to print the so-called "Continental", popularly called greenbacks ( "green"). In 1862 they had released 150 million, and in 1863 - another 300 million. As gold reserves provided they were not, by the end of the war, their real value was only 1 / 1000 of face value. There is even a saying "do not, and Continental, and the treatment they were withdrawn. A word - the more so that when printing in the course of today's dollars, too, are the green ink.

Such a collapse of "green" is quite natural, because they were ordinary paper, but are subject to inflation and more stable currency. Thus, during the Punic wars, the entire budget of Rome went to the army, so it was decided to gradually reduce the content of silver in coins. However, the "little" does not have: if the 250 was it was 40%, then just twenty years later it fell to just 4%. As usual in such cases, the yield was one - the monetary reform. It's just had to hold the emperor Diokletianu.

Experience the Romans had not any for whom lesson, inflation has become quite common. At 324, she struck Egypt, where for ten years, the cost of a pound of gold jumped from 300 thousand to 2.12 billion dinars. By the way, to devalue not only metal, chased the money, but also shells. For example, at the end of the XVIII century. in Uganda, a woman could be bought for two cowrie shells, and in 1860. such a purchase would cost in the thousand. The truth is worth noting that the price has been very stable and lasted nearly a hundred years, until after the Second World War to replace the cowrie came shillings. And women, in general, to sell almost stopped ...

The most ambitious is the disruption of money fell on the history of XX century. In the 1922-23 year in Germany, payment of salaries took place twice a day - the only way an opportunity to spend the money before they are fully depreciated. Inflation has reached such a magnitude and in Hungary in the years 1944-46 - the number plates issued to the new bank notes in circulation reached 27, while the cost of one gold Peng equaled $ 130 billion of paper.



Olga Romanova
vlasti.net