Money in the Stone Age (Cattle, Crops and Fancy Items)

The earliest barter is thought to have involved cattle. Later with the development of agriculture ; crops and agricultural produce came to be used as a means of exchange. Even now in some agricultural economies of the third world the village cobblers, weavers, mechanics and even doctors, continue to accept agricultural produce as payment. But storing or carrying around huge quantities of goods for exchange can be a bother ! Another problem : you can’t barter if the other party does not need what you have; and even if they do , both have to decide on the relative value of the items being bartered before they can get on with it.

So you can see how even though it was not an issue for the “oldest profession of the world”, for all others it was important that a generally accepted and more common base for valuation of goods to be exchanged be established. In China around 1200BC. cowry shells became the first generally accepted medium of exchange. Thereafter the cowry has served as money throughout history –in some places even till the middle of the 20th century. Other economies began to use some other specific item, such as teeth, feathers, polished stones, etc.