Money is an invention that was essential to the development of trade because it is something that everybody wants. With the Barter System, both people had to have something that the other person wanted, but money allowed the seller to become a buyer when and where he wanted. This gave people more options and also made it easier for them to travel long distances to trade items. In the third millennium BC, the earliest money appeared in Egypt and Mesopotamia in the form of gold bars and rings. It has gone through many changes from precious metals to the paper money and coins we use today.
Money has had three functions throughout history; it has been the measure of value, the medium of exchange, and the way to store wealth. The rise of trade and the growth of the money economy lead to money becoming the new measure of a person’s wealth. This changed the shift of power from those that owned the land to those that had the money, which lead to the development of democratic societies.
10 comments:
Great information Beth. I collect old U.S. paper money and here is what it is made of. I cut and pasted this from Google. Currency paper is similar to a fine fabric. Composed of 75 percent cotton fibers and 25 percent linen, there is no wood or starch in the raw pulp. This fibrous amalgam is blended with precisely-measure red and blue silk threads. The paper recipe has advanced to include special synthetic security fibers as well, ensuring that currency paper is very hard for counterfeiters to produce.
Beth youy post is very informational. Money is still used in the present to sell and purchase things. People even in the present have to barter. When you buy a car, if you barter with the salesman, sometimes you can get the car for a cheaper price. I really enjoyed your post. Mary Ann Reday.
Sister in Arms, I agree with your post. You ever hear the saying "money is everything." When you have money you become a seller and a buyer. When money was created it also boosted the sales of goods and more because people were buying. Again something else from the past that plays a huge role in our society still is money. Today if you have a lot of money you have power and more. Eveybody works for money to live their lives.
Very informative post. To live, you need to earn some type of money or a medium of exchange that facilitates trade. Today most of the civilized countries deal with some type of medium exchange either in coins or paper, I can't imagine what it would be like to have to trade in something other than paper and coins.
Good post. Money is everywhere, we need money to survive. Currency is what makes our nation thrive and become better. In the past our country was broke, after time trade was very important. This is how we grew as a country. People worked hard when our nation first started growing.
Great post Beth. You are completely correct, money is how business gets done. Money needed to be invented before business could properly develop. Money changes how our economy functions. Could you imagine having to barter for everything? Would you get what you needed? Would you have any time left to do anything else? Also with the invention of money came banks. And with a banking system money can work in so many different ways to better a society.
I was just thinking the other day… the world would be a better place without money. If people would volunteer their hours to produce technology rather than get paid. This way everyone can obtain what they want and everyone would live equal. I think money just makes people greedy and it causes the world to be a bad place.
Interesting post. Last year, while watching Split Ends, a show on the Style Network where every episode a stylist trades places with another hair dresser to work in a different salon and environment. I was surprised, as was the upscale city dwelling stylist, that in a rural kitchen/salon bartering was still used. A monetary amount was charged, but, for instance, piglets would be taken instead. Very strange and interesting!
I love money very much. When I get money, I try to hide it and spend my mom's money first. I remember the first time I got a $100 bill, I did not want to spend on nothing. I just wish money can grow on tree's so I can always have some.
It's amazing to think we used to actually trade things for other things without a set monetary value on them. Now we just fork over bills and coins.
Post a Comment