Cattle and small domestic animals, shells, pearls, whale teeth, feathers, implements, jewelry, stones, salt, grain, dried fish, cocoa beans, tea, sugar, cotton cloth, furs, tobacco, metal, paper … the range of goods that have been used as money is virtually boundless. Depending on the time and location, money substitutes have been used time and again even in highly developed monetary economies. Immediately after World War II, for example, cigarettes, coffee and other prized goods were accepted legal tender.
What material money is made of appears to have no bearing on its function. Only in the case of commodity money has the exchange value been directly linked to the material used. Whether the first coins made of electrum in Asia Minor in the 7th century B.C. were commodity money or not has not been answered conclusively to this day. The weights of the coins were standardized, and the coins were struck with dies to create images, usually figurative representations of animals. However, it is not clear whether the coins were actually traded according to value or whether the coins were simply used according to weight, like metal bars. John Maynard Keynes held that these coins were stamped simply out of daring vanity, national pride or for advertisement purposes, so that minting had no greater importance and at best certified metal quality.
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Cowrie shells = marine shells.
Were used in Egypt as early as 2000 B.C. as a means of payment. -
Tea brick, 19th century, China/Mongolia
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Knife money, Chinese,
Chou dynasty (1122 B.C. to 255 B.C.)
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Canoe money, 18th/19th century, Laos
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Manilla money made of bronze, Africa, 19th century
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Tiger tongue money, Siam, 19th century
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Gold stater,
Croesus, 561 B.C. to 546 B.C.
