Where it all began

The origin of currency goes back almost to the dawn of civilisation. Man has always needed to trade goods and services, whether by bartering or by an organised financial arrangement. Although money is something we all take for granted, it has taken many centuries to become as sophisticated and widespread as it is now.

Coins

The first stamped coins are thought to have been used around 600 BC in what is now Turkey, but before that, other items were used to purchase particular items. The most common were shells, although it was only a particular type, of course. It would be a perfect world if we could simply go to the beach and pick up a handful of money!

The system evolved whereby people would deposit their stamped coins, usually made of a precious metal such as gold or silver, into what was an early form of a bank. The banker would then issue a note confirming ownership of a particular sum of money. In time, these notes would become accepted as payment instead of the coins themselves.

Paper Money

This led to the introduction of paper money as we know it today, and explains why the individual sums of money are known as banknotes. To this day, the wording on a British note indicates its original status. A £20 note, for example, bears the statement ‘I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of twenty pounds’.

For inter-bank trading, high value notes up to £100 million are inexistence, although the highest generally-used denomination for public usage is £50.