Start hereDictionarySearch
English
日本語English中文ItalianoFrançaisDeutschEspañol
Sign in Fees and how to study
NOMISMA
Read history Money history: the world and JapanBubbles, frauds and financial crisesPeople who changed moneyReadingsSee all of Read history
Understand how money works Banks and depositsInterest, prices and exchange ratesCash and digital paymentsHistory's lessons for today's decisionsSee all of Understand how money works
Look at coins Browse by photoImages, letters and materialsCare, storage and tradingSee all of Look at coins
Start hereDictionarySearch
Fees and how to study Sign in
Language
日本語English中文ItalianoFrançaisDeutschEspañol

exchanging

交換 ／ exchange-act　—　Phenomena

Giving one thing for another.

Eiraku Tsūhō (Yongle Tongbao) Eiraku Tsūhō (Yongle Tongbao)AD 1408– Copper Axe Copper Axe14th–15th century Bancozettel (1762 pattern) Bancozettel (1762 pattern)1762
A photograph of what this word names.

⚠ The account that money was born to solve the inconvenience of barter is widely told. The scene in Smith (1776), often cited for it, is written as a supposition, and no record of a society living by barter is shown. Old clay tablets from Mesopotamia preserve accounts of distributions and loans of barley.