How did people trade before money existed?
The Great Swap
How did people trade before money existed?
Before coins clinked and bills crinkled, before anyone had ever seen money, people still wanted things they didn't have. A farmer grew more wheat than her family could eat. A toolmaker shaped beautiful knives but had no chickens. A weaver made warm blankets but needed new sandals. So they figured out the oldest deal in the world: the swap.
This system was called barter — trading stuff directly for other stuff. "I'll give you six eggs for that clay pot." "I'll fix your roof if you give me two baskets of apples." No money changed hands because there was no money to change. It worked surprisingly well for thousands of years.
