Almost any object can be used as currency and, long before the arrival of metal money, every culture had its own system. Many were based on the barter and trade of everyday items, bales of cotton, linen, sacks of grain or animals, which had a locally agreed exchange rate. Coins evolved slowly but, once established, these little tokens became the backbone of national and international trade.
Coins are described as ‘flat discs or pieces of metal with an official stamp, used as money.’ However the question ‘who were the first people to make and use coins?’ is difficult to answer. Chinese historians state that they
