How the fuck did currency start? Did someone go around and just

>>3170205
>you can melt it
>everybody thinks the metal has value cause you can make jewelry with it
>it does perish with time

>>3170205
money cowry

People used clumps of metal for trade for centuries, at some in the 6-7th century BC point states in Aegean started to pay their expenses (mostly mercenaries) with pre-weighted clumps, and they started to put stamps on them to prove the quality and the weight. Early coins were used the same way you would use any piece of metal - you would weight them to make a payment, they even cut them in pieces to balance scales.

joos

>>3170205

The earliest coins were made of electrum, and in part they may have been an attempt to control the wild fluctuations in value that have always plagued specie-based currencies.

>>3170205
I'm speculating entirely here, but it probably started off as a way of going

>Instead of having to get out scales and weighing the amount of gold/silver/copper/whatever we're trading, we'll stamp a coin, and every coin will be the exact same size so you KNOW it's one weight unit of whatever metal.

You realize how much a pain in the ass barter trading is compared to a universal currency, right?

>>3170205
at times specific goods are still used as a currency if they are something that has a convenient and stable value and many people have use for them.

these evolve into money when someone trustworthy starts representing them with non-valuable stuff for convenience.

>>3170205

The earliest Roman coins were cubes, but that didn't catch on.

>>3170205
Metal is worth the most because of how much effort it takes
Ancient kings had metal goods lying around
They'd give people tripods cups and other things
A coin is merely a chopped up rod
Seriously just read Vergil and all will be explained

>>3170244
lydians