Page 18 - MRPC Souvenir Bodhon 2018

(modern day southern Iraq) around 3000 BC at the same time and place, and under
the same circumstances, in which writing appeared. Just as writing developed to
answer the needs of intensifying administrative activities, so barley money
developed to answer the needs of intensifying economic activities. With time it
was realised that although barley had an intrinsic value, it was difficult to store
and transport.

Around 2500 BC another version of money appeared in ancient Mesopotamia
(modern day Iraq, Iran, Syria & Turkey). This was the silver shekel. It was a 8.33
grams of silver. Set weight of precious metals gave birth to coins. The first coins
in history were struck around 640 BC by King Alyattes of Lydia (modern day
western Turkey). The coins indicated how much precious metal it contained and
secondly it identified the authority that issued the coin. Almost all coins in use
today are descendants of the Lydian coins. The shape and size of the mark varied
tremendously throughout history, but the message was always the same: “I, the
Great King So-And-So, give you my personal word that this metal disc contains
exactly five grams of gold. If anyone dares to counterfeit this coin I will punish
such a crime with the utmost severity.” As long as people trusted the power and
integrity of the king, they trusted his coins. Total strangers could easily agree on
the worth of a Roman denarius coin, because they trusted the power and integrity
of the Roman emperor, whose name and picture adorned it.
Muslim and European merchants and conquerors gradually spread the Lydian
system to the far corners of the earth. By the late modern era the entire world
was a single monetary zone, relying first on gold and silver, and later on a few
trusted currencies such as the British pound and the American dollar. And thus
emerged the most trustworthy item in modern human life. Money. People speak
mutually incomprehensible languages, obey different rules and worship different
gods, but all believe in coins. Christians and Muslims who could not agree on
religious beliefs could nevertheless agree on a monetary belief, because whereas
religion asks us to believe in something, money asks us to believe that other people
believe in something.
For thousand of years, philosophers, thinkers and prophets have denigrated and
downplayed the importance of money and called it the root of all evil. In many
societies poverty is glorified and money disparaged. Literature and cinema both
have been projecting money in poor light. The protagonist was generally shown a
poor and honest man in our novels and pictures. And the rich and moneyed man
always unscrupulous with sinister designs. But we never gave a thought to the value
and trustworthiness of money. Money is more open-minded than language, state
laws, cultural codes, religious beliefs and social habits. It is the only trust system
created by humans that can bridge almost any cultural gap, and that does not
discriminate on the basis of religion, gender, race, age. Its purely a mental
revolution which evolved through the ages that exists solely in people's shared
imagination. The material form evolved and changed but the purpose remained
same throughout.

Thanks to money, even people who don't know each other and don't trust each
other can nevertheless cooperate effectively. That's because they both trust the
money they hold. It has enabled millions of strangers to cooperate effectively in
trade and industry which brought the world together.