History

The use of barter-like methods may date back to at least 100,000 years ago, though there is no evidence of a society or economy that relied primarily on barter.[7] Instead, non-monetary societies operated largely along the principles of gift economics. When barter did occur, it was usually between either complete strangers or would-be enemies.[8]

Many cultures around the world eventually developed the use of commodity money. The shekel was an ancient unit of weight and currency. The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. and referred to a specific mass of barley which related other values in a metric such as silver, bronze, copper etc. A barley/shekel was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight.[9] Societies in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia used shell money – usually, the shell of the money cowry (Cypraea moneta) were used.