![]() ![]() In 1748, Beaver pelts became the “standard of trade” in the north. In North America, the European settlers and First Nations tribes found skins to be one commodity they both agreed had value. Even today, the Finnish word “raha”, which now refers to money, originally meant the “fur of squirrel”. In Russia and Finland, squirrel pelts were a key medium of exchange during medieval times. Animal SkinsĪnimal skins have a surprisingly important history as currency in different parts of the world. It was not unusual for buyers and sellers of this currency to have their boats capsize due to their sheer weight. These limestone discs with the hole in the center were up to 12 feet in diameter and weighed up to eight tons. In the Solomon Islands, one of the world’s strangest currencies was born: the rai stone. Each compact wheel holds the equivalent of 550 liters of milk. It was also used as a currency.Īs early as the year 1200, wheels of parmesan were used as a medium of exchange for other goods.Įven as recent as 2009, the New York Times reported some banks in the region using parmesan wheels as collateral for farmers’ loans. ![]() ![]() In Italy, the hard, dry cheese made from skim milk is not just for pasta. The bricks could be used as a means of exchange, or they could be eaten, used to make tea, or brewed for medicine. Tea leaves, either whole or ground, would be dried and compressed into bricks using flour, manure, or blood. However, it was the nomads in Mongolia and Siberia that actually preferred tea bricks to metallic coins. A soldier’s salary was cut if he was “not worth his salt”, a phrase that still exists today.īricks of tea leaves were used for currency in many places in Asia.This became known as “solarium argentum”, from which we now derive the word “salary” Salt was also used as pay soldiers in Ancient Rome.Each coin was 10 inches long and two inches thick. In what is now modern-day Ethiopia, slabs of rock salt were used as coins.As early as the 6th century, Moorish merchants in sub-Saharan Africa routinely traded salt and gold at the same value per ounce.As a result, in many places of the world, salt was used as currency. Salt was highly valued for food preservation, but its production was very limited. The first written record on salt appears in 2700 BCE in China. The importance of salt to ancient civilizations cannot be understated. ![]()
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