different uses of money in different periods
Answers
Money can be described as a generally accepted medium of exchange for goods and services. Virtually anything can be considered money, as long as it performs the three major functions of money (i.e. medium of exchange, store of value, unit of account). With this in mind, it is not surprising that there were different types of money throughout history. To give you a brief overview, we are going to take a look at the four most relevant ones below: commodity money, fiat money, fiduciary money, and commercial bank money.
Commodity Money
Commodity money is the simplest and most likely also the oldest type of money. It builds on scarce natural resources that act as a medium of exchange, store of value, and unit of account. Commodity money is closely related to (and originates from) a barter system, where goods and services are directly exchanged for other goods and services. Commodity money facilitates this process, because it acts as a generally accepted medium of exchange. The important thing to note about commodity money is that its value is defined by the intrinsic value of the commodity itself. In other words, the commodity itself becomes the money. Examples of commodity money include gold coins, beads, shells, spices, etc.