Why did people invent coins?
The Stamped Promise
Why did people invent coins?
Long before anyone stamped the first coin, people traded stuff they had for stuff they wanted. A farmer with extra wheat might swap it for a neighbor's pottery. A shepherd might trade wool for tools. Simple enough — except when it wasn't.
The trouble was matching. You wanted bread, but the baker already had too many chickens and didn't want yours. You needed sandals, but the sandal-maker wanted honey, and you only had grain. Trading required a wild chain of swaps — your grain for someone's honey, their honey for the sandals — and sometimes the chain just wouldn't connect.
