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.[8] Instead, non-monetary societies operated largely along the principles of gift economics. When barter did occur, it was usually between either complete strangers or potential enemies.[9]
Many cultures around the world eventually developed the use of commodity money. The shekel was originally both a unit of currency and a unit of weight.[10]. The first usage of the term came from Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC. Societies in the Americas, Asia, Africa and Australia used shell money – usually, the shell of the money cowry (Cypraea moneta) were used. According to Herodotus, and most modern scholars, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coin.[11] It is thought that these first stamped coins were minted around 650–600 BC.[12]
