Project work

A Project Report Submitted to

Bidhya Paudyal (BP1)
Lecturer
KMC
Bagbazar, Ktm.

Title
Different Forms of Money Used in The World

Submitted By:
Ishani Giri
Lazli Bista
Yumi Thapa
Simran Sigdel
Lenuka Gurung
Krishna Khadka

Of Grade 12 “D9”.
Chaitra 2078
 Acknowledgment

First of all, we would like to thank Bidya Paudyal Ma’am and the Department of English for
assigning us this project work. And, also for guiding us with proper idea to complete this project
work successfully.

Not, forgetting the help from different sources, this project is completed by the help of different
sources. We would like to thank all the sources, resources, books and so on which indirectly
helped a lot in this project.

Last but not the least, we would like to give a special thanks to those all who helped to complete
this project directly or indirectly in a perfect way in the estimated period of time.

Any constructive suggestions and feedbacks are greatly acknowledged!!

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 Abstract

The purpose of our project is to study the history of money, how does money come in existence
and what type of money are used by the people in the world.
Etymologically the word money derives from the Latin word Moneta with meaning "coin" via
French monnaie. Though word money represents coin, these days we can find people using
different forms of money for the sole purpose to exchange goods and services. Money is a
medium of exchange for goods or services within an economy. Philosophically, anything can be
money, but coins and paper notes are the most generally accepted forms. Here in this project a
glance of history of origin and development of different forms money is presented.

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 Table of Contents

S.N. Titles Page No.

1. Introduction 4

2. Different forms of Money 5

3. Some facts About Money 10

4. Conclusion 11

6. Bibliography/references 12

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 Introduction

Money is anything that is generally accepted

as payment for goods and services and
repayment of debts. The main functions of
money are distinguished as: a medium of
exchange, a unit of account, a store of value,
and occasionally, a standard of deferred
payment.

Money is a liquid asset used in the

settlement of transactions. It functions based
on the general acceptance of its value within
a governmental economy and internationally
through foreign exchange. The current value of monetary currency is not necessarily derived
from the materials used to produce the note or coin. Instead, value is derived from the
willingness to agree to a displayed value and rely on it for use in future transactions.

Money, whether it's represented by a seashell,

a metal coin, a piece of paper, or a string of
code electronically mined by computer,
doesn't always have value. Its total global
value—currently estimated to be around $420
trillion—depends on the importance that
people place on it as a medium of exchange, a
unit of measurement, and a storehouse for
wealth
Money allows people to trade goods and
services indirectly; it helps communicate the
price of goods (prices written in dollar and cents correspond to a numerical amount in your
possession-e.g., in your pocket, purse, or wallet); and it provides individuals with a way to store
their wealth.
Money is valuable as a unit of account—a socially accepted standard by which things are priced
and with which payment is accepted. However, throughout history, both the usage and form of
money have evolved.

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Different forms of Money
1. Barter
The first people didn't buy goods from other
people with money. They used barter. Barter
is the exchange of personal possessions of
value for other goods that you want. This
kind of exchange started at the beginning of
humankind and is still used today. From
9,000-6,000 B.C., livestock was often used
as a unit of exchange. Later, as agriculture
developed, people used crops for barter. For
example, I could ask another farmer to trade
a pound of apples for a pound of bananas.

showing a man engaging in barter: offering chickens in exchange for his

yearly newspaper subscription

2. Shells

At about 1200 B.C. in China, cowry shells

became the first medium of exchange, or
money. The cowry has served as money
throughout history even to the middle of this
century.

Chinese shell money

3. First Metal Money

China, in 1,000 B.C., produced mock
cowry shells at the end of the Stone Age.
They can be thought of as the original
development of metal currency. In addition,
tools made of metal, like knives and
spades, were also used in China as money.
From these models, we developed today's
round coins that we use daily.
Weapon use as money in china in 1000 B.C

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4. Coins
At about 600-650 B.C., pieces of silver
were the earliest coins. Eventually in time
they took the appearance of today and
were imprinted with numerous gods and
emperors to mark their value. These coins
were first shown in Lydia, or Turkey,
during this time, but the methods were
used over and over again, and further
improved upon by the Greek, Persian,
Macedonian, and Roman empires.
Lydian electrum coin (or badge) (one-third stater denomination) minted ca. 600 BC

5. Leather currency
In 118 B.C., banknotes in the form of
leather money were used in China. One-
foot square pieces of white deerskin
edged in vivid colors were exchanged for
goods. This is believed to be the
beginning of a kind of paper money.

6. Noses

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 During the ninth century A.D., the Danes

in Ireland had an expression "To pay through the

nose." It comes from the practice of cutting the noses
of those who were careless in paying the Danish poll
tax.7. Paper Currency
From the seventh century to the fifteenth century
A.D., in China, the first actual paper currency was used as money. Through this period the
amount of currency skyrocketed causing severe inflation. Unfortunately, in 1455 the use of the
currency vanished from China. European civilization still would not have paper currency for
many years.

8. Potlach
In 1500, North American Indians engaged in
potlach, a term that describes the exchange of
gifts at banquets, dances, and various rituals.
Since the trading of gifts was so important in
figuring the leaders’ community status,
potlach went out of control as the gifts became
more extravagant in an effort to surpass
others' gifts.

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9. Wampum
In 1535, though likely well before this earliest
recorded date, strings of beads made from
clam shells, called wampum, are used by
North American Indians as money. Wampum
means white, the color of the clam shells and
the beads.

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10. Gold Standard
In 1816, England made gold a benchmark
of value. This meant that the value of
currency was pegged to a certain number of
ounces of gold. This would help to prevent
inflation of currency. The U.S. went on the
gold standard in 1900.

11. Depression

Because of the depression of the 1930's, the

U.S. began a worldwide movement to end
tying currency to gold. Today, few nations
tie the value of their currency to the price
of gold. Other government and financial
institutions now try to control inflation.

12. Today

At present, nations continue to

change their currencies. For example,
the U.S. has already changed its $100
and $20 banknotes. More changes are
in the works.

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13. Tomorrow

Tomorrow is already here. Electronic

money (or digital cash) is already being
exchanged over the Internet.

So, these are the basically different forms of money used in the world. Different forms of money
developed with phase of time, however the then form of money disappeared due to some
inconvenience in their uses. And with the motive of convenience, now we can find the maximum
use of electrical form of money namely online banking and cryptocurrencies.

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 Some Facts About Money

 Money is used to pay for various goods and

services.
 It is also used to measure and store value.
 Money usually takes the form of coins,
banknotes and bank balances.
 There are a number of different currencies used
in countries around the world.
 Many countries have their own currency, while
some use a shared currency.
 An example of a shared currency is the euro
used in the European Union by countries such as
France, Germany and Spain.
 The currency most traded around the world is the
United States dollar.
 Other heavily traded currencies include the euro,
Japanese yen and pound sterling (British pound).
 It is believed that products such as livestock and
grain were used to barter (exchange goods and services without the use of money) over
10,000 years ago.
 The first coins were minted (made) around 2,500 years ago.
 Paper money was first used in China over 1,000 years ago.
 The benefit of metal coins is that they are portable and durable.
 The original value of a British pound was equal to a pound (in weight) of silver.
 Credit cards were first used in the United States in the 1920’s.
 The US dollar and many other currencies use the dollar sign $ as a symbol.
 US currency features former presidents such as George Washington ($1 bill), Abraham
Lincoln ($5 bill), Andrew Jackson ($20 bill) and Benjamin Franklin ($100 bill).
 Coins and banknotes are popular items for collectors, especially rare, old and misprinted
ones.
 Inflation decreases the purchasing power of money over time.

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 Conclusion

The use of barter-like methods may date back to at least 100,000 years ago, though there is no
evidence of a society or economy that relied primarily on barter. Instead, non-monetary societies
operated largely along the principles of gift economics. When barter did occur, it was usually
between either complete strangers or potential enemies.

Many cultures around the world eventually developed the use of commodity money. The shekel
was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight. The first usage of the term came from
Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. Societies in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia used shell
money – usually, the shell of the money cowry (Cypraea moneta) was used. According to
Herodotus, and most modern scholars, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of
gold and silver coin. It is thought that these first stamped coins were minted around 650–600 BC.
The system of commodity money eventually evolved into a system of representative money. This
occurred because gold and silver merchants or banks would issue receipts to their depositors –
redeemable for the commodity money deposited. Eventually, these receipts became generally
accepted as a means of payment and were used as money. Paper money or banknotes were first
used in China during the Song Dynasty. These banknotes, known as "jiaozi" evolved from
promissory notes that had been used since the 7th century. However, they did not displace
commodity money, and were used alongside coins. Banknotes were first issued in Europe by
Stockholm’s Banco in 1661, and were again also used alongside coins. The gold standard, a
monetary system where the medium of exchange are paper notes that are convertible into pre-set,
fixed quantities of gold, replaced the use of gold coins as currency in the 17th-19th centuries in
Europe. These gold standard notes were made legal tender, and redemption into gold coins was
discouraged. By the beginning of the 20th century almost all countries had adopted the gold
standard, backing their legal tender notes with fixed amounts of gold.

After World War II, at the Bretton Woods Conference, most countries adopted fiat currencies
that were fixed to the US dollar. The US dollar was in turn fixed to gold. In 1971 the US
government suspended the convertibility of the US dollar to gold. After this many countries de-
pegged their currencies from the US dollar, and most of the world's currencies became unbacked
by anything except the governments' fiat of legal tender.

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 Bibliography/references

1. https://learnwithanjali.com/
2. https://shorelinecu.org/
3. https://infopediapk.weebly.com/
4. https://www.investopedia.com/

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