The exact time of the appearance of money has not been established, however, as soon as the need arose for the interaction of people from different clans and families, the rudiments of commodity-money relations began to take shape. Throughout its history, money has undergone significant changes.
Instructions
Step 1
Stone money
Archaeologists have discovered the first "coins" in the Stone Age, when division of labor and specialization began. Their role was played by stones with holes in the center. People begin to exchange the objects of their labor and production with each other for stone money.
Step 2
Commodity money
In the process of evolution of man and society, money was also transformed. This is how the goods that had an increased universal value emerged. In different countries and cultures, these were cattle, fur, slaves, grain, salt and, in the end, precious metals: silver and gold.
Step 3
Metal money - coins
Commodity money was inconvenient in that it excluded the possibility of using it in everyday life (seasoning food with salt, grinding grain into flour), since all the time they had to participate in the exchange. The need arose for a universal product that could be exchanged for anything. It had to meet certain requirements: to be rare and expensive, durable, well stored, easy to share. This is how people came to metals. At first, a universal means of payment (the so-called money) was made from it in the form of tools, ornaments, and only later did merchants start using ingots. The latter also had a number of inconveniences: the need for accurate weighing and sample determination. The state took over the function of quality and weight control and began minting coins.
Step 4
Paper money - banknotes
Gradually, in order to increase the welfare of states and benefits, money producers move away from the face value of coins, mixing in admixtures of inexpensive metals, removing quality and weight from the defining parameters. This path led to the emergence of banknotes, confirming their value only by bank receipts. Although initially, when paper money appeared, they were "secured" - they could be exchanged for a fixed amount of gold.
Step 5
Plastic cards
The next round of monetary evolution is associated with the emergence of electronic computers in the West. Already in 1950, the first attempt was made to issue plastic cards for payments in restaurants. Two years later, banks highly appreciated electronic money and saw the future in it. The production of plastic cards was put on stream. In 1993, a computer chip is implanted into the card. Today the overwhelming majority of the money supply is only information that has no material form - electronic virtual money.
Step 6
Plastic cards
The next round of monetary evolution is associated with the emergence of electronic computers in the West. Already in 1950, the first attempt was made to issue plastic cards for payments in restaurants. Two years later, banks highly appreciated electronic money and saw the future in it. The production of plastic cards was put on stream. In 1993, a computer chip is implanted into the card. Today the overwhelming majority of the money supply is only information that has no material form - electronic virtual money.
Step 7
Electronic money
With the development of the Internet and the successful functioning of almost all types of business in it, the need for virtual settlements arose. The pioneer was the Webmoney payment system, which appeared in 1998.
