Commodity money is money whose value comes from a commodity of which it is made. Commodity money consists of objects having value or use in themselves as well as their value in buying goods.
This is in contrast to representative money, which has no intrinsic value but represents something of value such as gold or silver, in which it can be exchanged, and fiat money, which derives its value from having been established as money by government regulation.
Japanese commodity money before the 8th century AD: arrowheads, rice grains and gold powder. This is the earliest form of Japanese currency.
A bronze okpoho or manilla, the traditional commodity money in West Africa until the 1940s.
Axe-like grzywnas (commodity money) from Kostkowice, Poland, 9th to mid-10th century AD
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are: medium of exchange, a unit of account, a store of value and sometimes, a standard of deferred payment.
Banknotes and coins
A 640 BC one-third stater electrum coin from Lydia. According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins. It is thought by modern scholars that these first stamped coins were minted around 650 to 600 BC.
Song Dynasty Jiaozi, the world's earliest paper money
Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm