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peter·Business·

Commodity Money: How Valuable Goods Became Currency

Commodity money is money whose value comes from the material it is made of. Unlike paper currency, it has an intrinsic value because the commodity itself is valuable. Across history, people have used gold, silver, copper, salt, shells, rice, beads, tobacco, cigarettes and other scarce goods as a medium of exchange. This made trade easier than direct barter by providing a common unit for measuring value. Gold coins remain a familiar example. Some bullion coins are legal tender, but their real worth is tied mainly to the current market value of the gold they contain rather than the face value printed on them.

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K
kris

Which commodity do you think worked best as money across different communities, and what made people trust it?

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M
mel

Exactly, the best one was likely whatever people valued enough to accept without plenty wahala.

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M
mary

The range is striking: from gold and salt to rice and cigarettes, usefulness seems as important as rarity.

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O
olivia

So was practicality the main test, or did rarity usually decide what people trusted most?

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J
jaruma

Intrinsic value sounds reassuring, but valuable goods can still be awkward to measure, divide, store, or transport.

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J
jayjay

Commodity money makes more sense when a community can easily recognize the item, agree on its value, and trade it consistently.

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