Even if you’re the biggest fan of online shopping, you’ll still use money every day. You’ve probably even got handful of coins in your pocket right now. But how did we get from little round pieces of metal to PayPal and Bitcoin?
The experts at online money transfer site TransferGo have made a surprising video that reveals the weird and wonderful evolution of money. It might just surprise you!
Want to know more about the surprising history of money? You can watch the whole video over on TransferGo's Facebook page, using the link below.
More info: Facebook
#1 The first currency occurred in China. They were small tokens that represented specific goods. Using them was like bartering without having to carry your goods everywhere.
#2 Roman soldiers were paid in salt, which they used as a currency. That’s where we get the word ‘salary’ from today.
#3 Chinas was the first country to have paper money, in around 700AD. They called it ‘flying cash’ because it tended to get carried away by the wind.
#4 The pirate currency ‘pieces of 8’ were actually Spanish Dollars. They were made of soft silver so they could literally be cut up into pieces if you needed to spend less than one!
#5 Paper money in the West started out as IOUs for different amounts of gold. People traded the IOUs, rather than cash them in for gold and banknotes were born.
