As one of the four ancient civilizations in the world, China is also the first country to use currency. As early as 4000 years ago, money appeared in Xia and Shang Dynasties. What was the main currency at that time? Babe People string shells together with ropes and then use them for commodity interaction. This is Babe's original prototype.
Historical records? The leveling book records:? The road to agricultural, industrial and commercial transactions is smooth sailing. Where is the prosperity of turtle shell money and knife cloth? As a primitive currency, Northern coins are not only recorded in ancient books, but also unearthed in many cultural relics. Seeing this, many people may find it strange that there are many shells by the sea. Why don't the poor just pick up shells and make a fortune?
The reason is actually very simple. First of all, Babe not only uses shells, but also imitations of shells, such as stone shells, jade shells, bone shells, and even bronze shells. Is it true?/You don't say. Copper coins? The first prototype.
Whether it is copper shellfish or jade shellfish, the materials are not cheap. If ordinary people want to imitate alone, the value of money is higher than the coin itself. Copper imitation shells with or without characters were found in the late Yin Shang Dynasty and the Western Zhou Dynasty, and evolved into copper ant nose money with inscriptions after the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, which is more difficult to falsify.
The second reason is that before the appearance of bronze shells, although shells had been circulated as money, they were not completely popular. Many places still believe in equivalent exchange, such as cloth, shovel, tortoise shell and so on, and even other currencies, so Beibi has not completely occupied the market.
In fact, just like silver later, it can often be seen in TV dramas, but few people actually use it in reality. Generally, it is replaced by consistent copper coins, because ancient mining technology is not developed enough, silver is still a scarce thing, and so are shells. Before stone shells, jade shells, bone shells and copper shells appeared, they were still used less.
The third reason is the same. Not all shells can be used as money. Money can be divided into face value and shell value, and those rare ones, such as tiger-spotted shells and ringed shells, are more valuable. You can't just pick it up.
Take the ring shell as an example. Generally only in places with relatively low water temperature, only in some sea areas. This kind of shell has a very beautiful surface and is rare, so its value is relatively high.
In fact, if you think about it, you will understand that if you can pick up a shell as a coin at will, then the residents in coastal areas will simply stop fishing, and two shells a day will fill their stomachs, and the market will soon be saturated, and the value of shellfish will be lower and lower, which is obviously unreasonable. A wise man won't pick it up, because even if it takes him a day, he may not be able to pick it up and spend it? Babe