History of Money
Understanding Concepts & Change Over Time
Why was bartering not always a successful or fair system of exchange?
→ Bartering required both people to want what the other had, which was often difficult. For example, a shoemaker might not want mangoes from a farmer, making it hard to agree on a fair trade. It was complicated and inconvenient.What problems did early people face while using items like shells or cattle as money?
→ Items like shells could break easily, and things like cattle were hard to carry around. It wasn’t practical for regular trading, especially for small items.How did the invention of coins solve some of the challenges of earlier forms of trade?
→ Coins were easy to carry, had a fixed value, and were accepted widely. They made trade simple and reliable and could be used anywhere.How did the development of paper money make trade safer and more convenient for merchants?
→ Paper money was lighter and easier to carry than coins. Merchants no longer had to worry about robbers stealing heavy sacks of gold, as they could trade with paper notes instead.
Application and Inference
If you lived in the bartering time, what challenges would you face trying to trade your school bag for lunch?
→ The person with lunch might not need a school bag, so the trade wouldn’t happen. I would have to find someone who wanted exactly what I had, which could take a long time.Why do you think salt or animal teeth were once considered valuable? Would they work as money today? Why or why not?
→ Salt was important for preserving food, and animal teeth were rare and decorative. They wouldn’t work today because people now use money that is easier to count, carry, and verify.How does modern digital money make our lives easier compared to ancient forms of money?
→ Digital money lets us pay instantly through phones or cards. We don’t need to carry physical money and can send or receive payments from anywhere in seconds.
Application and Inference
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Do you think a world without physical money (only digital) would be better or worse? Explain your opinion.
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If money was never invented, how different would our world be today in terms of shopping and saving?
→ Shopping would be very hard, as people would need to find perfect trades (like goats for rice). Saving for future needs would be messy and unreliable. There would be no banks or stores as we know them today.
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