-
Cattle
9000 to 6000 B.C.
Cattle, Sheep, Camel, and other livestock are the first and oldest form of money. -
Cowine Shells
1200 B.C.
The first Cowines were used in China.The Cowines is the most widely and longest used currency in history -
First metal money and coins
1000 B.C
Bronze and Copper cowrie imitations were manufactured by China at the end of the Stone Age and could be considered some of the earliest forms of metal coins -
Modern Coinage
500 B.C
Outside of China, the first coins developed out of lumps of silver. They soon took the familar round form of today, and were stamped with various gods and emperors to mark their authenticity -
Leather Money
118 B.C
Leather money was used in China in the form of one-foot-square pieces of white deerskin with colorful borders. -
Paper Currency
806
In all, China experienced over 500 years of early paper money, spanning from the ninth through the fifteenth century. Over this period, paper notes grew in production to the point that their value rapidly depreciated and inflation soared -
The Present
Today, currency continues to change and develop, as evidenced by the new $100 U.S. Ben Franklin bill.
