Why do we need money? The emergence of money

It is difficult enough to say unequivocally about where and when the first money appeared. The emergence of money was not at all a one-stage result of the long development of the socio-political relations of human societies in different parts of the earth. Moreover, in different historical periods. At the dawn of mankind, there was simply no concept of "money." The emergence of money is associated with a later time. At the same time, in primitive societies, people practiced a simple exchange of objects of everyday life and valuable things, such as pitchers, furs, Arrowheads and so on. However, such a natural exchange is very inconvenient, because the value of various things or food is always different.

Emergence and development of money

Actually, with the gradual development of a natural commodity exchange, the first items that have their own value appear and are a definite equivalent to the value of any thing. This was the first money. The origin of money today's historians associate, first of all, with ingots or fragments of precious metals. They still did not have a definite form, but they formed a collateral value, which could already be counted on any product. Such development pushed people to the next logical course. A new form of money has become certain items, goods or animals. Thus, in Ethiopia, the population was calculated by salt bars, in India, for the exchange used shellfish kauri, the Aztec tribes even Used cocoa beans. Such things were not yet money in the full sense of the word, but they anticipated their emergence. And the essence of money becomes obvious: they must be a universal equivalent of exchange, which can be measured by any potential commodity.

Requirements for money

At the same time, the elements of any monetary system must meet a certain set of rules: they should not deteriorate from a permanent transfer from hand to hand, and also over time; They should be light and mobile for constant wearing; They should be subject to division in case they need to pay less (for example, the name of the modern Russian currency is "ruble" and comes from the process when large coins were cut into smaller ones).

The emergence of financial systems

All these requirements were met by metal products, which in ancient times began to acquire specific and definite forms. For example, it is precisely known that in the 7th century BC, such money already existed in Lydia. The emergence of money at the same time can not be clearly attributed to a certain region and time. The first coins, in their form resembling modern, appeared in China. However, there they had an opening in the center of the disc, since they were conveniently placed on a rope worn around the neck. Like the Chinese tradition, from the copper and silver cervical hoops the medieval Slavs cut the pieces and paid them. And since the hoops were worn on the nape, then the fragments were called "hryvnia", which later passed to the coins of the Kiev princes.