The History of Currency

  • 101

    Bartering BC

    The exchanging of one good or service for another good or serivce.
  • 101

    Shells and Rocks

    Shells and rocks were used as currency in some rural regions in the earlier years of civilization.
  • 118

    Leather Money BC

    Leather money was used in China in the form of one-foot-square pieces of white deerskin with colorful borders. This could be considered the first documented type of banknote.
  • Mar 29, 700

    Europe Uses Paper Money

    They noticed the use of paper money in China, so they began to created paper money as well
  • Mar 29, 806

    Paper Currency

    The first known paper currency was found in China. It qucikly fell through because of the inflation it caused.
  • 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 25, 1200

    Europe turns to the Gold Standard

    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 29, 1500

    Potlach

    This was the native american currency that they used throughout North America.
  • Mar 29, 1535

    Wampum

    he earliest known use of wampum, which are strings of beads made from clam shells, was by North American Indians in 1535. Most likely, this monetary medium existed well before this date. The Indian word "wampum" means white, which was the color of the beads.
  • The US Dollar

    The first printed dollar in North America
  • End of the Gold Standard

    The massive Depression of the 1930s, felt worldwide, marked the beginning of the end of the gold standard. In the United States, the gold standard was revised and the price of gold was devalued.
  • Credit Cards

    The Introduction of credit cards allowed consumers to not have to carry around cash money
  • Present Day

    Present day money around the world consists of coins and paper money.
  • BitCoin

    The future of money could possibly be found in BitCoin.
  • More Futuristic Currency

    BitCoin could easily be overtaken by another form of money, and that one overtaken as well. No one is truly sure what form our money will eventually take next.