A brief history of money in the world and in Russia: how did monetary relations originate and develop?

Money is a fundamental subject of economic relations in modern society. Thoughts about them are firmly entrenched in our head: for someone it is an object of insatiable desire, and for someone it is a tool for satisfying needs and a means of self-realization. We can no longer imagine our life without money and sometimes we think that money has always existed. However, it is not. From this article you will learn a short history of the origin of money and the development of monetary relations in the world and in Russia.

• 1. A brief history of money in the world
• 
  
  • 1.1 Barter exchange
  • 1.2 The appearance of the first coins
  • 1.3 The emergence of paper money
• 2. A brief history of money in Russia
• 
  
  • 2.1 The appearance of money in Russia
  • 2.2 Money of Tsarist Russia
  • 2.3 Money of Russia before 1997
  • 2.4 All modern Russian banknotes
• Conclusion: the future of money

1. A brief history of money in the world

1.1 Barter exchange

In the early stages of the development of human society, people did not need money for money. The large family produced all the necessary household items and food products on their own. Subsequently, people realized that it was easier and more efficient to specialize in a separate branch of craft or agriculture. But how to get the goods missing for the family? Of course, exchange your abundant goods for the necessary ones. This is how a barter exchange appeared - the transfer of property to one party by transferring another property of a similar or equal value to the other party.

Apparently, the barter exchange was born somehow;)

Various things can act as objects of barter exchange. Grain and livestock were the most popular because they were the easiest to sell. However, along with barter exchange, transaction costs arose: grain must be stored somewhere, and livestock needs constant care and nutrition. Therefore, people began to use smaller means of exchange: skins of fur-bearing animals, feathers of birds, stones of a special shape or Kauri (Tsiprei) shells, impaled on a thread.

Kauri shells are the most stylish exchange method

1.2 The appearance of the first coins

Despite all their attractiveness, the shells or skins of animals deteriorate and are relatively easily accessible. Non-ferrous metals are another matter. Money made from gold, silver or copper is much easier to shape into any desired shape, as well as to protect against counterfeiting and use in the trading process.

The first coins appeared in Rome about 2500 years ago and are associated with the formation of such a phenomenon as a state. It was the state that assumed the responsibility to produce money and control its circulation and quality. Initially, coins were introduced as a means of making bulk purchases and paying taxes. But later, smaller monetary units began to appear, which made it possible to make small purchases.

Coins of different states had different types and values. Usually they were round or oval with a protective seal and the image of the ruler. For example, this is how the Darik coin of the Persian Empire looked like with the image of the ruler Darius:

Golden gift

But these were the coins of Russia at the turn of the 10th century:

Coins of Russia - 10th century

1.3 The emergence of paper money

The pioneers in the creation of paper money were the Chinese, who began to write down the amount of "debt" on the specially treated skin of animals with identification marks when carrying out a trade transaction in order to pay for goods.

The first paper Chinese money

European countries came to the idea of ​​creating paper money only during the development of banking and international trade in the 17th century. Bankers accepted clients' money for safekeeping, and in return they issued a kind of receipts through which they could take their funds back. Subsequently, the bank's client could receive a document confirming that a certain number of coins were stored on his account and allowing some of them to be removed from storage. Such documents began to be called "banknotes" and were used to conclude large transactions without the direct transfer of money.

Based on this practice, the states came to the conclusion about the need to create their own national Central Banks, which would be engaged in the centralized production of paper money backed by gold and silver. With the development of the printing business, the quality of banknotes and the degree of their protection has improved, increasing the degree of confidence in them on the part of citizens. England, France and Sweden became the leaders in the field of creating paper money.

The first paper money of France, England and Sweden

2. A brief history of money in Russia

2.1 The appearance of money in Russia

At the beginning, in Russia, coins were in circulation, which were obtained in the process of trade with Arab merchants. The money received from them was called kuna, and part of it was cut. Then they began to use the hryvnia - a part of women's jewelry in the form of a necklace made of precious metal, most often silver.

Arabian kuna

As a result of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the culture of Russia suffered degradation and valuable ingots came to replace round coins. But already at the beginning of the 13th century, individual principalities again began to acquire their own coins.

After the unification of Russia by Ivan III into a single state, a single mint appeared with a common national accounting unit - the ruble and its component - the penny. The first official mention of the penny was in the reign of Ivan III, but some historians suggest that the prototype of the penny was created much earlier. Nevertheless, it was from the time of the reign of Ivan III that we can say that the main monetary unit in Russia was a penny.

The penny of Ivan III is the main currency of Russia

2.2 Money of Tsarist Russia

The main monetary reform in tsarist and later imperial Russia was carried out by Peter I, who issued new types of coins and standardized the terms of exchange between them. So he established that 1 ruble is equal to 100 kopecks and issued the following coins:

• fifty kopecks - 50 kopecks;
• half a ruble - 25 kopecks;
• dime - 10 kopecks;
• heel - 5 kopecks;
• altyn - 3 kopecks.

Coins of Peter I

The first paper money in the Russian Empire appeared thanks to Catherine II, who introduced banknotes in denominations of 25, 50, 75 and 100 rubles. Paper notes under Catherine II show the essence of inflation against the background of a shortage of non-ferrous metals. In order to avoid the lack of silver and gold, they began to use copper. However, copper coins, equivalent to silver and gold, were very bulky and heavy. The first paper notes have successfully dealt with this problem. People liked Catherine II's paper notes so much that they were affectionately nicknamed "katenka" among the people.

Paper "katenki" Catherine II

2.3 Money of Russia before 1997

The First World War and the October Revolution destroyed the Russian Empire and its financial and monetary system. These shocks led to the need to issue new paper money - "kerenkami". What are Kerenki? Kerenki are paper notes that were issued in 1917 by the Provisional Government. In fact, the Kerenki were practically not provided with anything and did not have any levels of protection. Because of this, people did not feel trust in them and preferred to use the old "good" gold and silver coins.

"Kerenki" without serial numbers and protective equipment

In 1922, chervonets were first issued. The chervonets is a separate monetary unit, which was equal to 10 tsarist gold rubles. Thanks to this reform, the Soviet government managed to establish economic relations and increase commodity circulation between citizens.

"Leninsky" chervonets "

But the ducat was a very large currency. To make it convenient to handle in practice, 1 silver ruble was issued, as well as treasury notes in denominations of 1, 3 and 5 rubles. To exchange one ruble, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 50 kopecks.

The 1961 reform strengthened the Soviet ruble even more, since at the legislative level it increased its purchasing power by 10 times.

Soviet money 1961

2.4 All modern Russian banknotes

The national currency of modern Russia has undergone many changes in connection with the political and economic disasters that occurred after the collapse of the Soviet Union. At the moment in Russia there are banknotes in circulation in denominations of 10, 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 and 5000 rubles, as well as coins in the amount of 1, 2, 5 and 10 rubles.

Russian bills since 2006

In December 2017, new banknotes in denominations of 200 and 2000 rubles were introduced into circulation:

New bills introduced since 2017

Conclusion: the future of money

Since the beginning of the 20th century, most countries began to experience difficulties in providing their national currencies with gold due to its deficit, world wars and major economic crises. Therefore, the countries abandoned the gold standard and switched to a floating exchange rate for currencies and gold.

The development of information technologies and the free formation of exchange rates have made it possible to create electronic means of payments that are safer, more convenient and economical. According to statistics, paper money goes out of circulation (tears and its quality is lost) every 2 - 3 years, depending on the face value. In addition, over the entire cycle of its existence, money is in the hands of hundreds of people on different continents and contributes to the spread of various infections. Thanks to this stage, bank cards and e-wallets are becoming more and more popular both for private purchases and for concluding a multi-million dollar deal.

However, traditional money has a number of disadvantages, which are associated with its complete control by the state and potentially unlimited emission. This problem is solved by cryptocurrencies, which, thanks to blockchain technology, are decentralized and independent of specific groups of people. Cryptocurrencies allow you to transfer any amount to any part of the world for a standard minimum commission, and also have a limited release, which in the future, with an increase in demand, leads to an increase in demand.

Cryptocurrencies are the future of the economy

2020 turned out to be one of the most favorable for cryptocurrencies and showed interest in them from institutional investors, as well as ordinary people who are looking for a protective asset for their savings. We are confident that cryptocurrencies in the future will take one of the leading places in the field of monetary relations.