Photo Essay: Money Through the Ages
1.Many moons ago income as such did not exist. People used the traffic system, as well as exchanged goods with others to acquire the things they needed. Some people still do so. This sketch by Tomke Lask shows the modern traffic sell in Bolivia: The little brownish-red bowl, made of the cucurbitacea, is the measure for the barter. One play of fruits or vegetables is shift [sic] to one play of potatoes. There is the total street upon the market of Colomi reserved for barter.
2.From 1200-800 BC the Chinese began using cowrie shells as currency. The shells were used as gifts such as offerings for bridal as well as burial ceremonies. Like money, the some-more cowries we had, the some-more absolute we became. Eventually the make make use of of of cowries proposed swelling to Africa as well as even North America. Around 1000 BC the Chinese proposed creation ridicule cowrie shells with metal, similar to coins with the hole in the middle. Photo by prilfish.
3.Around 500 BC in Lydia the initial china coins appeared upon the scene. Since china was scarce, the coins were intrinsically worth something, as well as they were imprinted with critical gods as well as emperors to conclude their value. It wasnt long prior to the Greek, Persian, Macedonian as well as Roman empires proposed doing th! eir own china thing. This sketch by Bahrfeldt shows china coins minted for the Greek king Ptolemy II, who ruled Egypt during the 3rd Century BC.
4.A number of societies, together with the Lydians, introduced bullion coins around the same time as silver. Since bullion was less usual than silver, the bullion coins were worth more. This sketch by Ancient Art shows the Roman china depicting Hadrian (117-138 CE), plus the personification of the Nile.
5.The initial kind of paper income was invented in China in 118 BC. Initially this income was actually made of leather: feet block pieces of white deerskin embellished splendid colors. Later, the tanned hide was replaced with paper. Leather as well as paper income was lighter as well as simpler to carry than steel coins, as well as meant materials such as copper as well as iron could be saved for some-more critical uses. The sketch upon the left shows the income plate from Shanghai (1271 AD 1368 AD) used for printing designs onto paper. The picture upon the right shows paper income from the same time period. Both photographs have been by bronnenbergdean.
6.The Knights Templar, Englands many important Christian military order, were the initial organisation of people to create credit debt. They allowed pilgrims to deposition their income during the chapter house, get an encoded note, as well as afterwards set free the note for income elsewhere. Naturally this came with the huge fee, as well as the Templars became so rich they were means to suggest loans, mortgages as well as cheques upon deposition accounts, as well ! as lend kings the income to finance military campaigns. In alternative words, we can censure the Templars for all the worlds credit as well as debt woes! This photo by Francisco Diez shows Temple Church, the Templars English headquarters.
7.Things proposed getting difficult with the introduction of representative money, as well as later fiat currencies. Representative money, similar to the e.g. shown in this sketch by Phil Barnhart, was used as the token with no unique worth to paint the sure volume of something valuable. A bit similar to an IOU that we could in speculation sell for bullion or china during the bank. After World War II fiat banking came in to use: income that had worth because the government pronounced it had value, not because it was actually worth anything. Still following?
8.Since the 17th Century many coins in countries such as England were milled, creation them much harder to counterfeit. Despite this, by the mid 1800s almost one-third of all present banking was counterfeit. Paper bills these days thus have the bucket of security measures, such as those shown in this picture of an American $20 bill by Jack of Spades.
#1 as well as #2: New micro-printing.
#3: A watermark mural of Andrew Jackson.
#4: The twenty is printed metallically to shift tone in opposite lightings.
#5: A Mylar security thread using plumb glows green under UV light as well as has additional micro-printing.
#6: An cast process is used to imitation extremely excellent lines.
#7: The behind of the bill is printed with two opposite kinds of ink that have been not visible to the exposed eye as well as cannot be reproduced by scanners.
#8: The 20s upon the beh! ind form the constellation that additionally cannot be reproduced by scanners or printers.
9.So whats next? Visa Europe arch exec Peter Ayliffe pronounced in 2007 that income would no longer be in make make use of of by 2012. While this right away seems unlikely, it is already probable to send income to people around twitter, as well as during places similar to the VIP Baja Beach Club in Barcelona congregation have been using microchips in their arms to compensate for drinks. Why not? The idea of income is becoming some-more as well as some-more virtual, after all. Photo by Pungkas Nataatmaja of VegasProStudios.
10.Maybe the future of income is the multiple of tall as well as low tech. We have been starting to come full circle, with people trying to cut behind upon their security by returning to bartering as well as traffic upon the small-scale, community level. At Swap.com users pointer in to traffic DVDs, books, CDs as well as video games that have run their course. GiftFlow works the same way, as well as NeighborGoods covers all from lawnmowers to bicycles, but upon the loan-basis only. No income necessary! Photo by Emily Iafrate.
COMMUNITY CONNECTION
We explored the changing, sleazy nature of income once prior to in our essay The Future of Money. What do we consider about the approach income has evolved? Do we hold we will ever live in the totally cashless society? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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