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9000 BCE
Bartering
As early as 9000 BC people used a system of trade, called bartering, to get goods or services. Grain and cattle were common things to trade with (currency) to get goods or services that were wanted. -
4000 BCE
Egyptian Exchange
Using gold bars of a specified weight for an exchange medium in Egypt has been traced back to the 4th millennium BC. This system of currency is much like earlier when the Mesopotamians used silver bars for the same purpose. -
3000 BCE
Mesopotamian Shekel
The shekel was an ancient currency used in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC to define both a specific weight of barley and equivalent amounts of materials such as silver, bronze and copper. The use of a single unit to define both mass and currency was a similar concept to the British pound, which was originally defined as a one-pound mass of silver. -
2000 BCE
First Form of Banking
The first prototype banks of merchants of the ancient world made grain loans to farmers and traders who carried goods between cities. This began around 2000 BC in Assyria and Babylonia. -
1100 BCE
Asian Cutlery
Asian Cutlery - the Chinese moved from using actual tools and weapons as a medium of exchange (Bartering) to using miniature replicas of the same tools cast in bronze. Soon they used small cirlces to represent pointy objects (coins). -
600 BCE
Lydia Mints first currency
Lydia's King Alyattes minted the first official currency. The coins were made from electrum, a mixture of silver and gold that occurs naturally, and stamped with pictures that acted as denominations. -
600 BCE
China moves to paper
The Chinese moved from their coins into paper money. -
Period: 600 BCE to 500 BCE
Coinage Spreads
After Lydia, many places like India and major cities around the Aegean sea began to use coins as a means of currency much more -
Mar 17, 1100
Tallies
In the 12th century, the English monarchy introduced an early version of the bill of exchange in the form of a notched piece of wood known as a tally stick. The notches were used to denote various amounts of taxes payable to the crown. Initially tallies were simply used as a form of receipt to the tax payer at the time of rendering his dues. -
Mar 17, 1200
Europe goes to gold
Gold coinage began to be minted again in Europe in the thirteenth century. Frederick the II is credited with having re-introduced the metal to currency during the time of the Crusades. -
Mar 18, 1200
Chinese counterfeiting
The Chinese Emperor had "All counterfeiters will be decapitated," on their paper money to warn of criminals from creating copies. AT this point there was a tight grip on China's currency system. -
Modern Banking
In the early 17th century, the scriveners were the first to keep deposits for the express purpose of re-lending them. In 1640, King Charles I seized gold stored in the mint that belonged to citizens. People then switched to using the goldsmiths of London, who had private vaults, to store their gold for a small fee. -
European Bank Notes
1,600 AD
Europeans had been using coins up until this point, but switched to banks notes that were issued by banks and private institutions. People could use tem much like today's paper money for buying goods, but could also exchange them at banks for silver and gold coins. -
IOUs
IOUs were created because shipments between the colonies and Europe took so long and people would run out of money easily in that time. The first IOUs were in Canada, then a French colony. In 1685, soldiers were issued playing cards denominated and signed by the governor to use as cash instead of coins from France. -
Credit is Invented
The first universal credit card was invented in 1950. Credit is now a major part of economies and a very large portion of modern country's populations own credit cards. -
21st Century Revolution
The beginning of the 21st century brought along a new type of payment system: mobile payment. People can now use their phones or other mobile devices to pay for goods or services.