The First To Sell Gold Invented Money

Don't let the recession and the high cost of living get you down. There is likely an unexpected source of income sitting dormant in several places of your house just waiting to be discovered. In the nineteenth century prospectors hit the hills of California and made the long trek to Alaska. Today you simply need to prospect the jewelry box and dresser to find untold riches and sell gold. This precious metal is at an all time high and the price is only going up. Rather than allow this resource to sit unused and useless why not find a merchant willing to purchase it. Although you may simply want to get some quick cash it is worth learning that this precious metal has a rich and storied history.

What many do not realize is that in its earliest form people did not sell gold or even use it in exchange for goods. Instead it was mostly used as ornamentation. This use can be partially attributed to its incredible color but probably has more to do with the fact that this is one of the few elements that is found in its natural state to be almost pure. This makes it easily smelted and shaped into other forms. This low smelting point and relative purity was also coupled with the fact that it was fairly malleable. These qualities combined to make this relatively abundant and easily crafted material an immediate hit among every culture that found it.

While we may never know the earliest history of this precious metal we know that as time marched on, the desire and drive to find and own it has been a universal aspect of almost every culture. In fact all over the world this relatively impractical material became the original source of money.

Again it was the characteristics of this material that made it such a fungible commodity. Once again because it was so easy to melt and shape it was easy to measure out into easily standardized portions. These portions were easy to weigh because the relatively high density of the metal made even small variations in size weigh significantly different amounts. It represented early on all the things that make money what it is. This stuff was portable, permanent, and easily concealed. Soon barter went away and people would essentially sell gold in exchange for the products they wanted.

Eventually, these shiny yellow coins became the standard for the world's economies. Ancient Rome and Greece were able to sell gold to India for spices and China for silk and tea. The whole of the Roman Empire succeeded because it was able to offer a useful currency across the whole of the known world. The world had invented money.