How Did Currency Start?
Two things above all: people must accept it, and people must be able to measure it.
Video coming soon. The lesson video will appear here once it is published on YouTube.
Check yourself: sample questions
Think about each question, pick what you would answer if you like, then select “Show answer” to see the solution and why. Nothing is graded or sent to us. Example numbers are worked examples, not predictions.
1.What does something need to work as payment?
Two things above all: people must accept it, and people must be able to measure it.
2.What was the price of the field paid in, on the stone tablet from ancient Iraq?
The tablet records a field being bought; the price was paid in barley, and it does not mention coins because there were none yet.
3.What was the drawback of barley as money?
You cannot carry a field's worth of grain to the next town.
Full course: 5 more questions for this lesson
The full course unlocks all self-check questions of all 365 lessons, the daily plan, your progress and the printable learning record. Lessons 1 to 7 are completely free.
See the full course Start the free week
Already bought? Open the course on this device
Sources (5)
- British Museum: Money Gallery (Room 68), Large print information, 2020
- Penn Museum, Expedition Magazine 57(3): The Myth of Midas' Golden Touch (Amrhein, Kim, Stephens, Hickman, 2015)
- Penn Museum, Expedition Magazine 21(4), August 1979: Margaret Thompson, Hoards and Overstrikes
- Penn Museum, Expedition Magazine 47(2), July 2005: William B. Hafford, Hanging in the Balance: Precision Weighing in Antiquity
- Eigene Berechnung (synthetisches Rechenbeispiel)
Education only. Not financial advice.