1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,119 Speaker 1: My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,119 --> 00:00:13,840 Speaker 1: this is the artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:13,880 --> 00:00:17,320 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas, 5 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:25,000 Speaker 1: and moments in time. When we think about modern physical money, 6 00:00:25,000 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: we're generally thinking about something that has very little material 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: use in and of itself. It's not that a common 8 00:00:31,960 --> 00:00:36,680 Speaker 1: copper nickel clad copper quarter is actually worth twenty five cents, 9 00:00:36,720 --> 00:00:39,960 Speaker 1: but rather it's accepted as a medium of exchange for 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:43,920 Speaker 1: that amount and issued by the governing authority. The common 11 00:00:44,000 --> 00:00:46,600 Speaker 1: us quarter was once made of silver, but the value 12 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,280 Speaker 1: of the metal now exceeds the value represented by the coin, 13 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 1: as pointed out by Brian Fagan and Eleanor Robson in 14 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,080 Speaker 1: the Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World. The first 15 00:00:57,200 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: coins emerged in the later part of the seventh century 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 1: b c. E. In the Kingdom of Lydia, now located 17 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: in western Turkey. These evolved from the use of silver 18 00:01:06,880 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 1: ingots for trade throughout Mesopotamia and Egypt, certainly examples of 19 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 1: the sort of money that humans used at least as 20 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: far back as the third millennium b c. E. But 21 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:20,800 Speaker 1: the coins of Lydia differed in that they were marked 22 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:25,160 Speaker 1: with the emblem of the issuing body, ensuring consistent quality 23 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: and weight. In other words, transactions could be carried out 24 00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:33,399 Speaker 1: without the use of scales. We can summarize a lot 25 00:01:33,480 --> 00:01:36,880 Speaker 1: of monetary history in terms of this flow from bartered 26 00:01:36,880 --> 00:01:40,119 Speaker 1: goods to money to coinage, and we can look at 27 00:01:40,120 --> 00:01:43,919 Speaker 1: early forms of currency as symbols or receipts representing goods 28 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:47,440 Speaker 1: stored elsewhere, such as grain. But there are examples that 29 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:52,200 Speaker 1: seem to blur the lines between these distinctions. For example, 30 00:01:52,240 --> 00:01:55,240 Speaker 1: the Mayans and Aztecs used cocao beans and trade both 31 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:57,800 Speaker 1: in bagged form and as a sort of change in 32 00:01:57,840 --> 00:02:01,400 Speaker 1: the form of loose, fermented and dried coco beans. These are, 33 00:02:01,520 --> 00:02:05,280 Speaker 1: after all, the raw ingredients responsible for chocolate, a prestigious 34 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:08,959 Speaker 1: food in these cultures, plus by virtue of their botanical nature, 35 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: they already boast a highly consistent quality and weight. But 36 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:17,600 Speaker 1: cocow beans were not the only form of edible money. 37 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:21,520 Speaker 1: T also took on this role, particularly in Tibet, and 38 00:02:21,560 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: the reason has to do not only with the value 39 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: placed on tea, but also the use of compressed tea 40 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:32,480 Speaker 1: bricks tea, particularly Chinese poor, is still widely available in 41 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:38,040 Speaker 1: compressed bricks, cakes, discs, and even novelty shapes like hearts. 42 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:41,640 Speaker 1: But as Wolfgang Birch points out in the use of 43 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: tea bricks is currency among the Tibetans in the Tibet Journal, 44 00:02:45,639 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: the Chinese introduced tea to Tibet sometime prior to seven 45 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: a d c. And while it was at first used 46 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: as more of a pure bartering commodity, it eventually took 47 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:00,000 Speaker 1: a form that we might reasonably refer to as currents, 48 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:03,600 Speaker 1: a regimented system of tea bricks based on the teas 49 00:03:03,800 --> 00:03:08,119 Speaker 1: quality and pureness, and eventually imprinted with trademarks and seals. 50 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:11,560 Speaker 1: But of course this currency was one that you could 51 00:03:11,560 --> 00:03:15,920 Speaker 1: also brew into a delicious cup of tea. Salt, too, 52 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:18,320 Speaker 1: can be added to this discussion, as salt bricks have 53 00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: been used as currency in parts of Africa as well 54 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:25,200 Speaker 1: as ancient Rome. In fact, is Shauna Freeman pointed out 55 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,760 Speaker 1: in how Salt Works for how stuff Works dot Com, 56 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,800 Speaker 1: the roots of the words soldier and salary can be 57 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 1: traced to Latin words related to the giving or receiving 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 1: of salt. There are times, therefore, when it is perfectly 59 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 1: reasonable to put your money where your mouth is. Tune 60 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: into additional editions of the Artifact each week, hosted by 61 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: either Joe or myself. As always, you can email us 62 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 63 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio. 64 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 65 00:04:13,640 --> 00:04:16,479 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 66 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:17,320 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.