There is no exact scientifically confirmed history of the origin of money.
However, there are many scientific studies on this topic.
As a result, we can put together a chain of scientific facts and assumptions into a theory of how money arose and the history of its evolution.
There are two theories about the origin of money:
- Rationalistic
Money is the result of an agreement between people. The value of money is ultimately determined by the state.
- Evolutionary
Money appeared as a result of the development of commodity production and exchange.
Most researchers lean toward evolutionary theory.
History in brief
We consider only the period from their appearance to the moment of the appearance of paper money, more precisely,
"sheets of paper with symbols drawn on them."
In fact, there is no absolutely reliable history of the origin of money.
There are a number of scientific studies on this issue.
And now, from the totality of these studies, we can build them in a logical chain, draw conclusions and assumptions.
All this together is called, in the modern sense, "the history of money."
From the moment when specialization in production arose among people, whether it concerned objects of labor, or agriculture,
a need arose for exchange.
The first thing that comes to mind is a barter exchange.
That is, the exchange of one quantity of one type of goods for another quantity of another type of goods.
Unfortunately, this is terribly inconvenient.
Because, it is not a fact that the other side of the exchange needs your product.
It is possible that they need something completely different.
That is, immediately there was a need for the emergence of some kind of universal “intermediate product” that everyone needs,
which can be exchanged for anything.
And here the researchers give us two options for how this problem was solved.
For example, beautiful shells and eagle feathers were used as money.
That is, such money was relatively inaccessible and rare.
They could not be "raised from the ground", taken like a leaf on a tree.
And the second option - as a measure of money, not rare, but absolutely liquid goods were used,
which could be exchanged almost immediately and without much effort.
For example, wheat of a certain weight, and even a cow.
Metals were also used as such a unit of exchange.
For example, bronze. But at first it was "like a raw material", it changed "by weight".
That is, historically, for a variety of peoples and civilizations, anything has acted as a universal commodity,
which is an "intermediate link for exchange", and each with its own characteristics.
After humanity solved the problem of money as a "medium of exchange", the next problem arose - Money as a "store of value".
It turned out that accumulating cows or wheat is not very convenient.
Cows tend to die, and wheat spoils.
Besides, it was impossible to have any significant amount of such resources with you.
That is, the development of economic relations put forward new requirements for the product,
which should be a universal medium of exchange.
It should be compact, small, easy to move and valuable.
The answer to the question: "What could it be?", of course, you already know.
Mankind has chosen gold, silver and copper.
But then the next problem arose.
Even if you have gold and silver, it turns out that you need to carry scales with you every time.
Moreover, both the seller and the buyer need to have scales.
And whose scales are correct if they show different weights?
There was a public need for money as "a unit of account."
It was necessary that gold, silver or copper be divided into pieces of a strictly defined weight and this weight had to be guaranteed by someone.
So humanity came to coins.
It would seem that the problem is solved?
The correctness of the weight, the purity of the alloy, was guaranteed by the emperor or the king, that is, the head of state.
And, like, everything should be fine.
Unfortunately, almost no king or emperor passed the "honesty test".
Almost every ruler added copper to gold or minted coins of pre-reduced weight compared to face value.
That is, as soon as the function of "counting unit" appeared in money, the problem of the difference between their face value
and the actual content, that is, the gold or silver content, immediately arose.
But that was not the whole problem!
With the development of trade, it became clear that in order to ensure trade operations and trade,
much more money is objectively required than there is the presence of gold and silver!
And then there was such a financial instrument as "promissory notes".
A Promissory note is an obligation to pay the bearer a stipulated weight of gold or silver.
If the person who issued such a promissory note, had an impeccable business reputation, then promissory note issued by him,
were accepted along with money and also served as a means of payment.
Of course, the rulers could not pass by such a financial instrument.
Promissory notes were transformed into paper money.
China is the pioneer of these technological innovations.
Banknotes that date back to the end of the 10th and beginning of the 11th century have come down to us.
In Europe, the first significant issue of banknotes was carried out by the Bank of Stockholm.
Therefore, Sweden is considered the pioneer of paper money in Europe, even though the experiment ended in failure.
It took several centuries to convince people to use paper money.
And this is not surprising.
The fact is that the governments of all countries have abused the issuance of paper money.
This was especially evident when it was necessary to finance military spending.
Governments simply printed the necessary amounts to finance the army.
Therefore, the population was almost always skeptical about paper money, preferring full-weight gold or silver coins.
It became clear that something had to be done about it.
Then came the era of the "gold standard".
In 1821, the Bank of England announced that the pound sterling would be freely and without restrictions convertible into gold.
Later, other countries introduced the gold standard.
Unfortunately, in reality, these obligations were not fulfilled for long.
The reason, again, was the war and the need to finance government spending.
Of course, central banks tried their best to salvage the situation.
These attempts were recorded in the form of the Paris and Genoese currency conferences.
The most recent attempt was made in 1944 with the signing of the Bretton Woods Accords.
However, even the Bretton Woods monetary system did not last long.
And, finally, in 1976, with the signing of the Jamaican currency agreements, the Jamaican currency system began to work.
Any exchange of banknotes for precious metals was officially stopped.
Since then, money circulation in any country in the world has been ensured solely by the confidence of citizens
in the national currency and the fact that the state obliges its citizens to use this money for everyday settlements.
