To say exactly when the history of money began is very problematic. In primitive times, such a concept and corresponding phenomenon did not exist. Relations, similar to monetary, arose much later, along with the beginning of the process of exchange between people.
The history of money is directly related to the process of exchange and change of ownership. At the earliest stage, such an exchange, which we can today consider to be a prototype of monetary relations, was random in nature. At this stage, the product expressed its value through another opposing product equivalent. They could be objects, products or animals. For example, the Aztecs used cocoa beans as money. A random or simple form of ownership corresponded to this stage .
The history of money has gone through several successive stages. The formation of agricultural and cattle breeding tribes contributed to the fact that the exchange of goods turned into a regular form, and the random form of ownership was replaced by a complete one. This form differed from the previous one in that the exchange involved many goods that could be exchanged for various equivalent goods.
Exchange has become more developed. However, at this stage, the value of each individual product has not yet received a complete expression, because the number of equivalent goods was uncertain. Cost had a rather heterogeneous expression. Therefore, goods gradually began to stand out, which at this time in the market began to be used to express units of value. Gradually, one product was singled out, which assumed the role of universal equivalent. At this stage, a monetary form of ownership arose. At this time, the history of the development of money in the modern sense of the term began.
At its core, money has a commodity nature, but it can not be called ordinary goods. It is very specific because it plays the constant role of universal equivalent. Any product can satisfy any one human need and has a unit value for its consumer. Money goods have universal value (that is, they can be exchanged for any other). This property of money is called liquidity.
The universal equivalent (money) had to meet several mandatory requirements: it should not have deteriorated during storage, it could easily be carried with you, it should have been divisible without loss of overall value.
The story of making money on a metal basis begins with the advent of metal. Initially, gold and silver coins introduced into circulation were made of precious metals. The first coins appeared in Lydia in the 7th century BC. Then they began to produce in Greece, Asia Minor and Italy. The most valuable were coins of gold.
In Russia, coinage was started in the 9-10th centuries. The name “money” comes from the Tatar silver coin, which was called “tenge”. Since silver bullion used as money, if necessary, was cut into pieces (were divisible), they began to call them subsequently “rubles”.
But full-fledged metal coins, when their face value matches their real value, are very expensive. Metal mining has ceased to keep pace with the development of economic relations. The solution to the problem was laid by the very nature of money. Gradually, full-fledged metal money began to be replaced by signs of value. That is, the amount of precious metals in coins began to decrease, while their nominal value remained the same.
As a result of this process, metallic money was completely replaced by functional form money from cheaper base metals. In the end, money made from paper appeared. For the first time, the Chinese introduced them into circulation in the 9th century. In Europe, they began circulating in paper form from around the 15th century, completely displacing real money from circulation. In Russia, the history of paper money began in the 18th century, they were called bank notes.