Before the Coin
People were using currency long before coins and paper money ever came into existence. A bewildering variety of objects were used instead of actual money. The ancient Egyptians used copper, grain, linen, papyrus, stones and timber to barter for gold, hides, ivory, ostrich feathers, and ornamental trinkets. Many ancient cultures traded useful implements; a shovel for a spear, a pot for a pair of sandals. Other transactions made use of a uniform item of set value. Eastern peoples sometimes used sheep in this way. People in China, East India, Siam, and Africa used cowrie shells.
The Roman army paid its troops in measures of salt; this element was a much prized commodity that could be used for trade, food flavoring, and dressing wounds. This tradition is reflected in our word “salary” which is derived from the Latin word salarium, meaning salt. Native Americans used belts and necklaces made of shell beads as a standard form of currency. When Europeans came to the New World, they found it easy to trade with the natives, who placed much value on the necklaces and glass beads the settlers brought. When the Dutch famously bought Manhattan Island for $24, they paid the price in beads and cloth equal to that value.
Indians of the western plains traded with horses. A man’s wealth was measured in the number of horses he owned.Even after the invention of coins, many people still bartered or used other objects as currency. On the American frontier, furs were used. A buckskin was considered equivalent to one dollar. This is why the modern dollar is often called a buck.
In addition to items, people have also been traded, usually as slaves or wives. (As recently as 1992 a man in Papua New Guinea bought a wife. The price? Eleven pigs, given to the girl’s father.) During the colonial period, people were taken from debtor’s prison and forced to barter their services as indentured servants before receiving their freedom.
Are you content with today’s money system, or would you rather go back to bartering? If so, let me know. I have a dozen sheep that I’ll be willing to trade for a very valuable ostrich feather.
Source: Resnick, Abraham. “Money” (Lucent Books, Inc. 1995)
