By The History of Money From bartering to banknotes to Bitcoin By ANDREW BEATTIEUpdated March 24, 2022Reviewed by ROBERT C. KELLY Money, whether it’s represented by a seashell, a metal coin, a piece of paper, or a string of code electronically mined by computer, doesn’t always have value. Its total global value—currently estimated to be around $420 trillion1—depends on the importance that people place on it as a medium of exchange, a unit of measurement, and a storehouse for wealth. Money allows people to trade goods and services indirectly; it helps communicate the price of goods (prices written in dollar and cents correspond to a…
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