History

    A short history of money

    Long before coins, money was memory: a shared record of who owed what. From shell belts to notched sticks to central bank ledgers, the form changed, but the idea was always a promise.

    1. Time immemorial

      Shells & wampum: the First Peoples

      Across Turtle Island, First Nations used shell as a store of meaning and value. Wampum belts of quahog and whelk shell recorded treaties and agreements among the Haudenosaunee and Eastern Woodlands nations. On the Pacific coast, dentalium shells traded over thousands of kilometres. Cowrie shells served as money across Africa and Asia.

    2. c. 1100–1826

      Medieval tally sticks

      English exchequer tally sticks were notched hazel wood split in two, one half for each party. They were a literal promise ledger, accepted for taxes for more than 700 years.

    3. 1600s

      Goldsmith notes & fractional reserve

      London goldsmiths issued receipts for deposited gold. The receipts circulated as money, and goldsmiths learned they could issue more receipts than they held gold.

    4. 1694

      The Bank of England

      Founded to lend to the Crown. It became the template for central banking: government debt as the base of the money supply.

    5. 1913

      The Federal Reserve

      The US creates a central bank of 12 regional Reserve Banks. See Economy.

    6. 1944 → 1971

      Bretton Woods to fiat

      Currencies were pegged to the dollar, and the dollar to gold. In 1971 the gold link was cut, and every major currency became pure fiat.

    7. Today

      Promises, again

      Money comes full circle. Gēēks are a ledger of promises between people, priced in time, much like the tally stick.

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