Who invented money and why? Who invented money? Evolutionary origin of money.

On September 19, 2012, a local currency was introduced into circulation in the UK.
The circulation of the currency is limited to the city of Bristol, after which the local pound is named; people have already dubbed it “Bristolik”. This experiment is being conducted to support small businesses.
The fact is that due to the protracted crisis, the purchasing power of the population has fallen even in such a rich country as Great Britain. The Bristol pound can be obtained by exchanging it at a bank at a rate of 1:1 in relation to the pound sterling. When performing a reverse transaction, a 3% tax will be charged.

How can introducing a local currency revitalize the economy? Let's figure it out together. What is money, when and how did it appear?
Money originated in China during the Shang Dynasty, which ruled from 1600 to 1027 BC. On September 18, 2012, the People's Bank of China issued a gold coin in honor of the first Chinese state.

During the Shang Dynasty, centralization of power began in China, the ruler was the king, he was the nominal owner of all the land of the state.
There were clerks and archivists at the court. The royal power relied on the nobility, warriors and clergy. Ritual services were held in temples.
What happened in China before 3,600 years ago, no reliable written sources have been found to date.
It is assumed that various tribes lived on the territory of China, subsisting on crafts and natural exchange. How could the tribes unite, how did the monetary form of payment appear? Scientists say that a need simply arose, they just got together and came up with money for themselves. Let's try to imagine the average person of that time. He fishes, picks berries, raises livestock, makes household items...
Introduced? Now imagine that he so simply exchanged it for some items that were of no value to him, because before that there was no money at all! Natural exchange is understandable, a man exchanged his fish for vegetables, for clothes, a shovel... But why does he need pieces of bronze, what, carry these pieces of iron with him? It was only later that money with holes appeared, for ease of carrying, and then they were cast coins, similar to the one shown in the picture.

How to wear them and why such a bizarre shape, does it look like the head of a cow or ram? Surely taxes were introduced in the emerging state, but how to maintain the administrative apparatus, the king? And of course, they were initially collected in kind. Some will take fish, some clothes, some cattle, and this includes food and skins - they can be used for clothing. Surely the standard of tax was cattle, but why not take half of a cow? This coin really looks like a cow's head. By the way, such coins were in use until the 3rd century BC.
But how can you force a person to pay taxes? After all, he himself won’t pay it voluntarily, why is this all of a sudden, none of his ancestors paid anything. Here we remember the time of perestroika and the beginning of the 90s of the last century. Remember how a person came to a cooperator (artisan) offering security and when he did not agree, the next day hooligans came and caused damage, the cooperator himself turned to the “security structure”?
How can you track whether the tax has been paid or not, since paper was invented in China fifteen hundred years later? Signs? Well, this is China, there were a lot of them there even then. Cars with signs are difficult to take into account and control.
So they came up with tokens - coins. The coins are easy to carry and can also be exchanged. This is how one of the modern functions of money appeared - a measure of value.
The tax inspector (publican) gave one coin in exchange for a large horned animal, the same thing happened when exchanging 3 goats, 3 bags of fish, etc. Of course, there were cunning people; they immediately laid down such a loophole with deception. However, little has changed since then.
Over time, it became fashionable to show how much you paid in taxes, which means you are a rich person. We started exchanging and collecting these tokens. The function of modern money has appeared - accumulation. If people understood that by accepting a coin or a bill from anyone, they doom themselves to be tied to the one who produced it. After all, it will be necessary to change them back, and this is how people drive themselves into slavery, dependence on paying taxes.
The further this epic continued, the more money was introduced into circulation. The money supply began to far exceed the quantity of goods produced. The goods deteriorate, and there are practically no coins. This is how inflation appeared. Then they began to lend money at interest, thereby further depreciating the value of the goods. After all, you took one coin, but you need to return 2. This is such nonsense.
I wonder who came up with all this and for what purposes? But you can read about this and much more in Anastasia Novykh’s unique books. It describes not only how the world works, but also how to bypass the traps cunningly placed on every corner, and, of course, about those who set these traps and why. You can download books completely free of charge (spiritual knowledge is given only for free) in the corresponding section of our website. And you can read the fragment right here, see the excerpt below.

It is believed that the very first coins appeared in China and in the ancient Lydian kingdom in the 7th century BC. Around 500 BC, the Persian king Darius carried out an economic revolution in his state, introducing coins into circulation and replacing barter with them.

There are many definitions of the word Money in the world:

Money- an instrument that forces humanity to “move” in order to obtain them, and this sets in motion the entire human mass

A long time ago, in the Stone Age, people managed quite well without money. Why did they need them? They received everything they needed for life from nature. After all, what is most important for a person would be food and housing. And people lived in caves, went hunting with clubs and stone axes, and collected plants.

But it turned out that not every person who knew how to make axes and other weapons was also a good hunter! An idea arose: let the gunsmith make a weapon, and the hunter goes hunting with this weapon, and the hunter pays the gunsmith for the weapon with prey!

This is how a mutually beneficial exchange-barter arose. Rather than a person doing everything himself, including what he is poorly versed in, isn’t it better to distribute responsibilities and exchange one product for another that you cannot do yourself? That is, specialization arose in the production of certain types of products.

But in order to exchange one product for another, the seller must need specifically the product that the other merchant offers. Consequently, the exchange of goods could only take place if both traders entering into the transaction had the necessary goods.

This condition greatly limited the possibility of trade. It should also be taken into account that during the exchange the requirement of equality of value of the goods participating in the exchange must be observed, which also limited the exchange. The need for the development of exchange led to the selection from the set of exchanged goods of an equivalent used in the exchange of goods.

Over time, goods with good liquidity emerged ( liquidity is the ability to implement). These were animals, furs, precious stones, salt, grain, dishes, furniture, shoes, clothes, precious metals, etc. Precious metals (mostly gold, silver) were singled out as a general equivalent.

The qualities inherent in gold, such as: it is a rare metal, homogeneous, divisible, can be stored for a long time, portable, difficult to mine, contributed to the choice of this particular metal.

The product with maximum liquidity became money. Money- This is the most liquid means. Please note that there are money as a result of economic relationships in the economic life of people. Thus, it turns out that money appeared absolutely objectively. Money are goods, and goods are intended for exchange.

The word itself "money" arose as a result of the ancient Romans using the Temple of the Goddess Juneau Coin as a workshop for minting coins. Subsequently, all places where coins were made began to be called “coin”. The English version of this word is "mint", the French is "monet"; The English word comes from this word "mani" - money. Coins have been around for about 2,500 years, but they are known to have been preceded by various objects used as money.

Talent is also the name of the coin.

Talent(Ex.38:25,29, Mat.18:29) - a counting coin among the Jews, equal to 60 minas, or 6,000 drachmas, or 3,000 sacred. shekelam. Like other coins, it changed in its value at different times and in different places, but during the earthly life of Jesus Christ its approximate value in our money was 1.29 rubles. In the Bible in the New Testament, the word “talent” in the meaning of “money” is mentioned only in the parable of Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:18, etc.). In other places of Holy Scripture, this word refers to the weight that the Jews had for metals: the talent of gold, silver, lead, copper, iron.

So, for example, the crown of the king of Ammon weighed a talent of gold (2 Samuel 12:30); The Samaria mountain, on which the city of Samaria was built, was bought by Omri for two talents of silver (1 Kings 16:24), etc. Especially many talents of gold and silver were used for the sacred utensils of the tabernacle and temple (Exodus 25:39, Exodus 38:24, 27, 1 Kings 9:14). And after the captivity during the time of the Syrian kings, counting was done by talents (1 Mac. 11:28, 2 Mac. 3:11, etc.).

In ancient Egyptian wall paintings, rings of gold are weighed on scales. The most ancient manuscripts (from the time of ancient Mesopotamia) describe the use of weighed metal as money. In China, at least 3,000 years ago, cowrie shells and the shells of some mollusks from the Indian Ocean were used as money. Some Indians in North America also used shellfish scales as money which they called her " wampum".

There is also evidence that stones were used in primitive societies thousands of years ago. For paper ones money there were predecessors in the form of documents promising payments in gold, silver and other valuable items.

Known stories The very first banknotes in free circulation, banknotes, were first issued by bankers in China in the 18th century AD. Although banks and bankers existed for many centuries before the very first banknotes appeared.

At first, banknotes were supported by coins, and as a result they began to be perceived as money. By the 17th century paper money were introduced into circulation in very small quantities in just a few countries. The Bank of England began issuing banknotes in 1964, the year the institution was founded.

Main historical stages of development money:

The first stage is the appearance money with their functions performed by random goods.

The second stage is the consolidation of gold’s role as a universal equivalent (this stage was the longest).

The third stage is the stage of transition to paper or credit money.

And finally, the last, 4th stage - the gradual displacement of cash from circulation, as a result of which electronic types of payments began to appear.

Money is the universal equivalent of the cost of goods and services, part of the financial system of each country. Before adopting their modern form, they went through centuries of evolution. In this review you will learn about the history of the first money, what stages it went through and how it changed over time.

How did the money come about?

Market relations began to form as early as the 7th-8th millennium BC. At that time, primitive people exchanged excess products with each other, and proportions were established depending on the circumstances. With the advent of the social division of labor, barter gradually became inconvenient, and our ancestors began to use various objects as money.

In Rus', the furs of fur-bearing animals were used as a means of payment, in Ancient Greece - large and small livestock: rams, horses, bulls. In Ancient India, China, on the east coast of Africa and the Philippine Islands - shells collected on a string. During the time of Julius Caesar, slaves were used for this purpose. The inhabitants had flamingo feathers. In Melanesia, pig tails were used, and in Spar, stone cobblestones were used. In some countries, human skulls were the means of payment.

Converting first money

Gradually, some types of currencies were replaced by others, regardless of the will of the people. During the period of wars and revolutions, there was a massive regression. In Belarus, the Germans gave a kilogram of salt for the head of a partisan, considering this product to be very expensive. Later, different types of metals were used as money: copper, tin, lead, iron. In ancient Greece, iron rods were considered the best medium of exchange. Now the question arises about how money changed further.

Evolution of banknotes in Russia

The first paper notes appeared under the rule of the Russian Empress Catherine II in 1769. They were very similar to bank receipts and were used to pay salaries to officials. Although the bills had numbering and text, the printing quality was poor, so counterfeiters easily counterfeited them. It was necessary to replace all issued banknotes with more reliable ones, which is why after the Napoleonic War the history of money changed again.

A new type of money appeared in 1818. They were decorated with Empire style ornaments and engravings. The year 1897 was characterized by the stability of the financial system because paper money was easily exchanged for gold coins.

New technologies for banknote production in Russia

From the middle of the 19th century, metallographic printing from engraving was used, which became the basis of modern banking printing. At the end of the period under review, the first Oryol Seal device was designed, producing bright banknotes. This technology is still used today because it does not allow counterfeiting of money.

The history of the origin of money tells us that the first 500 ruble banknotes with the image of Peter the Great and 100 ruble banknotes with a photograph of Catherine II appeared at the beginning of the 20th century. After the revolution and during the war, the financial system collapsed. During these periods, many people were able to create counterfeit money in unlimited quantities. This is how hyperinflation progressed and our country’s economy deteriorated. Vladimir Lenin carried out not only the NEP and monetary reform, but also issued chervonets, then treasury notes. Later, new banknotes were issued with additional security mechanisms.

Historical data on money in Ukraine

Previously, on Ukrainian lands, our ancestors used Greek coins. Later, the money of the Roman Empire appeared, which was used to accumulate wealth and produce jewelry. Thanks to trade relations with foreign merchants, the currency spread to Podolia, Prykarpattya, Transnistria and other areas. Due to the economic and political crisis in the Roman state that arose in the 3rd century, ties were terminated. In the 5th-7th centuries, Byzantine and Arab currencies came into circulation.

During the rule of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich (918-1015), the history of money in Ukraine was supplemented by a new event: they began to produce the oldest coins - silver coins (weight up to 4.68 g) and zlatniks (weight 4.4 g). They were marked with an image of the prince on the throne with a trident, which was the family sign of the Rurikovichs. At the end of the 11th century, the first “hryvnia” made of silver appeared.

In the middle of the 18th century, Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire, and therefore its monetary system completely changed. The modification of the currency complicated the relations of residents of the former state with other countries. After the proclamation of the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917), it was decided to introduce paper hryvnias into circulation, which became the legal national currency in 1996.

Financial policies of Great Britain and France

Pound sterling - used long before the formation of the state itself. In the 9th-10th centuries, 240 pence were made from it, which were called “sterling”. 400 years later, gold pounds appeared in circulation. Thus, the bimetallic monetary system functioned until the end of the 18th century. The conflict with France and the First and Second World Wars greatly weakened the financial system, but over time it recovered. This is how the history of money was formed in this country.

The money in circulation in France today is the euro. However, this was not always the case. The first paper bills appeared in 1716. During the revolution (1790), the provisional government issued assignats and mandates. Over time, they depreciated, and in 1800 Napoleon created the Bank issuing francs. This currency turned out to be the most stable before the outbreak of the First World War. After the financial system was restored, francs were again in circulation. In 1997, they ceased to be convertible, and France switched to the euro.

Formation of credit money

Credit money appeared simultaneously with progress in commodity production. The recipient is given a certain amount with the condition of accepting obligations to repay it within the period established by the agreement. The type of funds under consideration is created not from circulation, but from the circulation of capital. It is determined not by the state’s gold and foreign exchange reserves, but by the number of loans provided. But when and how did credit money appear?

The history of credit funds began with bills of exchange, first created in Italy in the Middle Ages. Then banknotes appeared. In the 19th and 20th centuries, checks became popular. After this, electronic money was introduced, as well as plastic cards.

Features of providing a loan

The borrower is given a loan if he is able to make payments consistently. All information about cash receipts is entered into the credit history. If a person does not fulfill his obligations, this will negatively affect his ability to take out a loan in the future.

Have you encountered a similar situation? Do not be upset, because there are banks that lend money without contact. Contact new commercial financial institutions seeking to gain a position in the market by any means. Although their interest rate will be much higher, the client who is caught late repaying the loan has the opportunity to get a loan. Pay attention to the following organizations: Avangard, Zapsibkombank, Tinkoff Credit Systems, Baltinvestbank.

History of "Yandex.Money"

Currently, this electronic payment system is popular. It provides financial settlements between persons who have opened accounts on it. The currency is the Russian ruble. All operations take place in a special web interface in real time. This is exactly how the Yandex.Money system works.

The history of the system is connected with the idea of ​​​​implementing electronic money. The program began functioning on July 24, 2002. Russians immediately appreciated its advantages, and the popularity of the innovation began to grow rapidly. It gradually developed, and within three years new opportunities for working through the interface became available to users. In 2007, Yandex became the full owner of the program. Three years later, it was already working with 3,500 partners, and after some time it spread to different CIS countries. In 2012, the number of electronic wallets increased.

The most important achievement today is the ability to transfer electronic money to bank accounts and vice versa. The company is continuously working to improve the service, so users can count on an improved Yandex.Money system.

The history of money is constantly changing due to the circumstances of a particular state. As some countries continue to conflict with each other, there is a possibility that their monetary systems will weaken. It is still difficult to predict what changes will occur in the future.

Proponents of this theory are Paul Samuelson and John K. Galbraith. They believe that money came into being as a result of an agreement between people. That is, at a certain stage, human society decided to assign monetary functions to precious metals.

Evolutionary origins of money

This approach involves a transition to money for objective reasons, including: division of labor, property isolation of producers, economic growth, the need to maintain a fair exchange equivalent.

To understand why money was invented, it is worth considering its main functions.

Functions of money

Measure of value. This is the main function of money; it is the universal equivalent of the cost of a service or produced product. To compare different goods, it is enough to reduce their cost to the same monetary units - a single scale.

Means of circulation. Money significantly facilitates payments between producers - with the advent of coins, and then banknotes, the exchange of goods became much easier. If earlier purchase and sale necessarily coincided in time, now, thanks to the emergence of an intermediary - money, there is no need to simultaneously exchange goods for goods and interrupt the production process.

A means of storage. Being the equivalent of any product, money can accumulate, creating savings. There is no need to create storage facilities for goods; it is enough to put their equivalent in a jar or small container. It is money that allows a person to create wealth. Cash reserves smooth out the unevenness of economic life, which leads to stability.

Instrument of payment. Money can bring money, this is what the work of credit institutions is based on. This feature allows you to borrow without having to pay it off here and now, giving a promissory note.

So, money allows you to conduct trade and exchange, exchange your labor for any product, receiving a fair reward. They allow you to compare the value of different things. Money also allows you to create a certain reserve and, finally, allows you to take goods without paying all of its cost at once. That is why their appearance became an objective necessity at a certain stage in the development of society.


The circulation of the currency is limited to the city of Bristol, after which the local pound is named; people have already dubbed it “Bristolik”. This experiment is being conducted to support small businesses.


The fact is that due to the protracted crisis, the purchasing power of the population has fallen even in such a rich country as Great Britain. The Bristol pound can be obtained by exchanging it at a bank at a rate of 1:1 in relation to the pound sterling. When performing a reverse transaction, a 3% tax will be charged.


How can introducing a local currency revitalize the economy? Let's figure it out together. What is money, when and how did it appear?


Money originated in China during the Shang Dynasty, which ruled from 1600 to 1027 BC. On September 18, 2012, the People's Bank of China issued a gold coin in honor of the first Chinese state.



During the Shang Dynasty, centralization of power began in China, the ruler was the king, he was the nominal owner of all the land of the state. There were clerks and archivists at the court. The royal power relied on the nobility, warriors and clergy. Ritual services were held in temples.


To date, no reliable written sources have been found about what happened in China 3,600 years ago.


It is assumed that various tribes lived on the territory of China, subsisting on crafts and natural exchange. How could the tribes unite, how did the monetary form of payment appear? Scientists say that a need simply arose, they just got together and came up with money for themselves.Let's try to imagine the average person of that time. He fishes, picks berries, raises livestock, makes household items...


Introduced? Now imagine that he so simply exchanged it for some items that were of no value to him, because before that there was no money at all! Natural exchange is understandable, a man exchanged his fish for vegetables, for clothes, a shovel... But why does he need pieces of bronze, what, carry these pieces of iron with him? It was only later that money with holes appeared, for ease of carrying, and then they were cast coins, similar to the one shown in the picture.























How to wear them and why such a bizarre shape, does it look like the head of a cow or ram? Surely taxes were introduced in the emerging state, but how to maintain the administrative apparatus, the king? And of course, they were initially collected in kind. Some will take fish, some clothes, some cattle, and this includes food and skins - they can be used for clothing. Surely the standard of tax was cattle, but why not take half of a cow? This coin really looks like a cow's head. By the way, such coins were in use until the 3rd century BC.


But how can you force a person to pay taxes? After all, he himself won’t pay it voluntarily, why is this all of a sudden, none of his ancestors paid anything. Here we remember the time of perestroika and the beginning of the 90s of the last century. Remember how a person came to a cooperator (artisan) offering security and when he did not agree, the next day hooligans came and caused damage, the cooperator himself turned to the “security structure”?


How can you track whether the tax has been paid or not, since paper was invented in China fifteen hundred years later? Signs? Well, this is China, there were a lot of them there even then. Cars with signs are difficult to take into account and control.


So they came up with tokens - coins. The coins are easy to carry and can also be exchanged. This is how one of the modern functions of money appeared - a measure of value.


The tax inspector (publican) gave one coin in exchange for a large horned animal, the same thing happened when exchanging 3 goats, 3 bags of fish, etc. Of course, there were cunning people; they immediately laid down such a loophole with deception. However, little has changed since then.


Over time, it became fashionable to show how much you paid in taxes, which means you are a rich person. We started exchanging and collecting these tokens. The function of modern money has appeared - accumulation. If people understood that by accepting a coin or a bill from anyone, they doom themselves to be tied to the one who produced it. After all, it will be necessary to change them back, and this is how people drive themselves into slavery, dependence on paying taxes.


The further this epic continued, the more money was introduced into circulation. The money supply began to far exceed the quantity of goods produced. The goods deteriorate, and there are practically no coins. This is how inflation appeared. Then they began to lend money at interest, thereby further depreciating the value of the goods. After all, you took one coin, but you need to return 2. This is such nonsense.


I wonder who came up with all this and for what purposes? But you can read about this and much more in Anastasia Novykh’s unique books. It describes not only how the world works, but also how to bypass the traps cunningly placed on every corner, and, of course, about those who set these traps and why. You can download books completely free of charge (spiritual knowledge is given only for free) in the corresponding section of our website. And you can read the fragment right here, see the excerpt below.

Read more about this in the books of Anastasia Novykh

(click on the quote to download the entire book for free):

And who came up with them, these candy wrappers? - Andrei shrugged, unwrapping the next candy he liked.

“Chinese,” said Ahriman carefree.

Chinese? - the guy was surprised.

Yes. The Tang Dynasty Emperor of China issued the first paper money in 650. They were printed on high-quality paper, easily transported, and could always be exchanged for copper money. Therefore, this type of money quickly gained popularity. Then this fashion was adopted by the Persians and Japanese, and so it went around the world.

Was there copper money before that? - Kostya asked.

Various: copper, silver, gold. In a word, metal,” answered Ahriman.

Who invented coins? - suffered in the questions of our Philosopher.

Again, the Chinese. Their first coins appeared in the 12th century BC. They were cast. And then, about five centuries later, minted coins appeared in the ancient Greek colonies.

“Wow, how smart the Chinese are, but I had no idea,” Zhenya said sarcastically and glanced sideways at Veliar, who at that time, standing slightly behind Ahriman, was looking with pride and arrogance at the seated guests.

Every nation considers itself smart,” Ahriman shrugged. - The Romans, for example, believed that the invention of coins was the merit of their gods, such as Saturn, Janus, or King Numa Pompilius. The Greeks claimed that coins were invented by their heroes Theseus, Lycus, or, in extreme cases, the Argive king Phidon, who lived in the 7th century BC.

Ahriman paused while drinking tea. And then Sensei, who had hitherto exchanged insignificant phrases with Ahriman, unexpectedly for us entered into a polemic with him.

Yes, but the main thing is not who invented coins, but what they mean. According to linguists who got to the bottom of the word coin, translated from Latin moneo, monui, monitum means “foreshadowing”, “warning”. And the verb from which these words come means “to advise.” And, by the way, since we have already touched upon linguistics, the word “capital” also comes from the Latin word “caput”...

“I don’t understand,” Zhenya perked up when he heard the familiar word. - Does this mean “Hitler kaput”?

And the guy showed a cross in the air with his hand. We laughed, and Sensei answered with a smile:

Well, maybe he brought “kaput” to Hitler. But if we talk about the translation of the word “capital”, then caput means “head”.

“Ah-ah, that means smart,” the guy concluded.

Not at all,” Sensei shook his head negatively. - This refers to the number of livestock. - And looking at the surprised reaction of the guys, who even stopped chewing, he explained: - It’s just that cattle used to be considered a monetary unit. And his count was kept by heads.

Having said this, Sensei looked contentedly at Ahriman, and then we hurried to turn our heads towards him. It seemed to me that barely noticeable confusion flashed across Ahriman’s face, but when he received everyone’s attention, he immediately produced a charming smile and said cheerfully:

Of course, there was a time when money walked on four legs. But it’s good that those days are long gone. Otherwise, I would now be tired of counting my “capital” by heads.

“Yes, such capital would only result in losses,” Volodya noted with a laugh. - Not only does he constantly ask for food, but he also gives off a specific smell.

What's true is true! - said Ahriman, as if Volodya had hit the point of his mental reasoning.

Ahriman exchanged glances with Sensei, and they laughed again, as if they both put much more meaning into these words than they said out loud. Laughing, Ahriman shook his head:

Hmmm, everything that served a person as money: from cow skulls in Borneo to human skulls in the Solomon Islands, from bars of salt in Africa to slab tea in China and Burma. In Ancient Mexico, payments were generally made using cocoa beans. But what’s most interesting is that even in those days there were “counterfeiters” counterfeiting beans,” Ahriman chuckled. - What people have tried as means of payment: tobacco, grains of rice, corn, dried fish, skins, livestock, people.

Yes,” Sensei said somehow sadly. - Money changed, only the attitude towards money remained the same...

“In principle, nothing has changed,” Ahriman agreed with him.

- Anastasia NOVIKH "Sensei III"

Chess