By definition, money is anything people use for the purchase of products and services. This is what most people receive when they sell their own services or stuff. There are various types of money being used all over the world today. Every country also has its own money. Money is also known in other names such as cash or currency.

But, how did money come to existence in the first place?

Bartering is a very old concept. In the early days, people didn’t use money to buy or sell anything. What they did was to trade something for another so they can get whatever they needed or wanted. As years go by, trading animals like cows paved the way to trading smaller and easier to carry items like spices and jewelry.

Soon after, people wanted to change trading things and it made them look for things that can last for a long time. These should still come with a known value that can be carried around. The world’s first ever country that produced metal coins was named Lydia. The metal coins first appeared in the 7^th century BC in the western portion of what is the present-day Turkey. These Lydian coins were produced using the weighed amount of the precious metal stamped with a lion’s image.

The idea then soon reached Greece, other parts of the Mediterranean, and all over the world. The coins were produced to have the same shape and size. There are some areas in the world where different things were used as a form of money such as blocks of salt or clam shells.

Aside from the fact that it is easier to carry compared to cows, there are still many other benefits to using money. It is easier to divide than most trade goods. If the cow owner wants to trade wheat that is only half the worth of the cow, there is no way for him to cut the cow in half. However, if the cow is sold for money and uses the money to buy wheat, he will be able to get the exact amount he needs.

Unlike wheat that rots and cows that die, money can last much longer than majority of trade goods. Money is also standard at the same time. It means that a dollar has the same worth as another dollar. Adding up and counting money is also relatively easier compared to adding up the value of different amounts of wheat or different cows.

After using coins for hundreds of years, money in paper form began as a promise for paying in coin, similar to an IOU note. The first ever true paper money was used during the 10^th century AD in China. Paper money also started to be printed between 1660 and 1664 in Sweden. However, things didn’t work well for both instances and the production was halted since the banks constantly run out of coins for paying on the notes.

It was during 1690s when the Massachusetts Bay Colony was able to print paper money that paved the way for its more common use.

These days, people think of money as not just those things they can see and hold. Money now refers to bank account numbers that are saved in the memories of machines.