We Need Money

[Scythe13]

(1 April 2012, 10:19)bigpaul Wrote: money is completely useless UNLESS you have extra to sell, if you only have enough for yourself and your group then you wont have any excess to sell, whether you exchange it for barter or some form of money is irrelevant.

I get what you're saying BP. Remember my definition of money. Money is, in itself, an item of value, e.g. gold and silver. Humans have always seen value in gold and silver. Go back to the times of Babylon, the Mayans, Ancient Greece, Romans, Chinese or any civilisation through history whether they still exist, or not, as humans we have always seen a value in precious metals. Those metals are, in themselves, valuable.

It is the value of the metals that is why they have been used as money. Once someone places a piece of silver or gold into someone else's hands, that person then has the capability to transfer that wealth to someone else in exchange for something else. In this way, precious metals are the perfect way to transfer goods and do business. Promisary notes (bank notes we currently have) are only paper, and they carry only the strength of the promise. They will be traded until the strength of the promise is zero.

However, once a coin goes into circulation, it can remain in circulation.

Granted I am seeing it from a pretty modern-ish view. However, money is a much better system of commerce than barter, even though money can work along side barter.