1. Money Through the Ages
SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

2. Key Words
 Self-sufficient
 Specialization
 Division of labour
 Bartering
 Double coincidence of wants
 Deferred payment
 Token money
 Face value

3. What is Money?
 Bills and coins
 Used to exchange for goods or services, or to pay a
debt

4. Why Do We Need Money?
 We are not self-sufficient.
 The need for specialization and exchange.
 Specialization was the first step towards a wealthier
society.
 Division of labour = Specialization

5. How Specialization Began

6. Task
 Discuss as many advantages and disadvantages of
self-sufficiency and specialization as you can think
of.

7. Self-Sufficiency
Advantages Disadvantages

8. Specialization
Advantages Disadvantages

9. Question
 How did people trade in the past without money?

10. Before money was invented, people used…
Bartering

11. Problems with Bartering
 Fixing a rate of exchange
 Finding someone to swap with
 Double coincidence of wants = two people can barter when
they both want the good that the other person has.
 Trying to save

12. The Functions of Money
 A medium of exchange
 No need for double coincidence of wants
 A measure of value
 Helps to avoid fixing prices of goods and services in terms of
all other goods and services.
 A store of value
 Allows people to save in order to make purchases at a later
date.
 In times of inflation, money will fail to be such a good store of
value.
 A means of deferred payment

13. Money Sense
 ‘Money makes the world go round?’ Do you agree or
disagree with this statement? Why?

14. Money Sense
 ‘Money doesn’t bring happiness’. Do you agree or
disagree with this statement? Why?

15. Money Matters
 Money matters!
 It affects the life choices we make.
 Money is … a form of energy that tends to make us
more of who we already are, whether it’s greedy or
loving. By Dan Millman, athlete and author

16. What Makes A Good Money?
 Get into groups and discuss which of the items below
would make a good money. Record the views and
present your arguments to the class.
 Mountains
 Cheese
 Cigarettes
 Gold

17. What Makes A Good Money
 Acceptability – Everyone accepts it. That’s why our
present money is a token money – a piece of paper or
metal coin worth much less than the face value
printed upon it.
 Durability
 Portability
 Divisibility. E.g. a whole car is worth much more
than two halves. Hence, we divide money into
smaller values.
 Scarcity

18. References
 Clifford, T. (2009). Money through the ages. Vero
Beach, FL: Rourke Publishing LLC.
 Einspruch, A. (2011). Money sense. Managing
money. South Yarra, Australia: Macmillan
Education Australia Pty Ltd.
 http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/economy.mone
y.htm
 http://library.thinkquest.org/C004203/economic01.
htm
 http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/moolah/history.ht
ml