Egyptians were making the first metal rings, which they used as money.
1100 BCE
In china, rather than exchanging objects, tools or weapons, a system of using miniature replicas of their objects to be traded were used instead of the objects themselves.
750 BCE
In Lydia the first coins, as we would recognise them, were made.
750 BCE
The first coins were made of dics of electrum (a natural mix of silver and gold) and stamped with pictures to show their value.
750 BCE
The first known gold coin was minted by the Lydian king Croesus.
650 BCE
First paper money, in China
Europeans were using more and more metal coins, taken from their colonies.
Canadian colonies began to use paper money too and this innovation led to a huge increase in international trade.
A pirate walked into your shop he might try to pay in pieces of eight. A Spanish eight real coin was often split up into Pieces of eight too.
A Spanish eight real coin was often split up into bits to pay for things, leaving the bits as change.
Bits, was an English term for small coin and was still used until very recently.
The threepenny was only scrapped.ñ
In the modern world many people use plastic cards called debit cards to pay for things. The cards transfer money from their bank account to the shops bank account.
People use money they dont even have yet by paying with credit cards. They then pay the money back later.
