Friday, January 29, 2021

What is the exchange of goods in the barter system?

In ancient times, initially humans lived nomadic from one place to another; and live in caves. At that time humans survived by utilizing the surrounding natural resources, namely by hunting and picking the natural products that were available directly. The equipment used is still simple, in the form of a stone axe.

After that humans began to live sedentary and farming and know some simple technologies after the discovery of iron and bronze including axes which were originally made of stone. Fire in this era has also been found, so there is no need to consume raw meat which can make stomach ache. At this time there was already an exchange value for goods in the form of barter (barter), where when we wanted one other person's goods it could be exchanged for our own, and the goods exchanged were in the form of natural products that could be consumed by humans directly in the form of basic needs.

In a period of time, the medium of exchange was no longer only in the form of barter, but was already in the form of an item or object of mutual agreement in the form of shells. However, shellfish are not very effective in their use, because the only people who can have them in large quantities are humans who live around waters such as rivers, lakes and seas. For something more valuable, the medium of exchange is in the form of something more valuable, namely a sword; and even this is still not efficient, because, the exchange value of swords with shells is still much different. But the conclusion from all that is that what is exchanged is something that is valued by each individual and is not a basic need or goods that can be consumed directly.

Over time, the medium of exchange changed to something more valuable, namely gold and silver. Gold and silver are used as a medium of exchange because these objects are very beautiful and pleasing to the eye, and are liked by many people. Besides being difficult to obtain, the elements of gold and silver are durable.

Times change, the system of human civilization is increasingly advanced. This is marked by the formation of a royal system. The exchange tool turned into paper that was already sealed by the kingdom. That is, only the king has the authority to issue the medium of exchange in the form of sheets of paper. Apart from being limited in production, its circulation was also regulated in the form of a royal political-economic order. However, some other kingdoms still use a medium of exchange in the form of gold and silver.

In the modern era, humans have started to use a medium of exchange in the form of money, both in the form of coins and paper. Even today, currency values can be digital numbers. For example, in the form of debit card (ATM) and/or credit balances. Also the monetary value can be in the form of credit balances or electricity tokens. In sending it can be in the form of transfers that are completely on line (in the network). In addition to transfer results in the form of digital numbers, it can also be printed in the form of checks and demand deposits. The value of currency in the form of coins and paper is still valid today. However, the use of coins as currency is increasingly being used, because it is more practical and efficient to carry credit cards (ATM) and paper money than coins; and the existence and condition of coins here are often overlooked. This is marked by the frequent scattering of today's coins on the ground or in other places such as gutters, etc., or they are often not used, so they are collected by themselves at home, or for other reasons, so that their use is less effective. Nevertheless, coins are still used in some countries to operate some automatic machines, such as laundry machines, automatic beverage refrigerators, video games, or other machines such as automatic massage machines, etc.

Here I will describe some examples of coins collected by my great-grandfather, my parents, and myself from the 19th century (1883's), 20th century (1901's to 1990's), and 2000's ( 21st century) or the millennium/millennial era.