WEBVTT - The Artifact: Edible Currencies 

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of

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<v Speaker 1>My Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and

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<v Speaker 1>this is the artifact, a short form series from Stuff

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<v Speaker 1>to Blow Your Mind, focusing in on particular objects, ideas,

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<v Speaker 1>and moments in time. When we think about modern physical money,

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<v Speaker 1>we're generally thinking about something that has very little material

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<v Speaker 1>use in and of itself. It's not that a common

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<v Speaker 1>copper nickel clad copper quarter is actually worth twenty five cents,

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<v Speaker 1>but rather it's accepted as a medium of exchange for

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<v Speaker 1>that amount and issued by the governing authority. The common

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<v Speaker 1>us quarter was once made of silver, but the value

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<v Speaker 1>of the metal now exceeds the value represented by the coin,

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<v Speaker 1>as pointed out by Brian Fagan and Eleanor Robson in

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<v Speaker 1>the Seventy Great Inventions of the Ancient World. The first

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<v Speaker 1>coins emerged in the later part of the seventh century

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<v Speaker 1>b c. E. In the Kingdom of Lydia, now located

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<v Speaker 1>in western Turkey. These evolved from the use of silver

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<v Speaker 1>ingots for trade throughout Mesopotamia and Egypt, certainly examples of

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<v Speaker 1>the sort of money that humans used at least as

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<v Speaker 1>far back as the third millennium b c. E. But

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<v Speaker 1>the coins of Lydia differed in that they were marked

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<v Speaker 1>with the emblem of the issuing body, ensuring consistent quality

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<v Speaker 1>and weight. In other words, transactions could be carried out

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<v Speaker 1>without the use of scales. We can summarize a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of monetary history in terms of this flow from bartered

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<v Speaker 1>goods to money to coinage, and we can look at

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<v Speaker 1>early forms of currency as symbols or receipts representing goods

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<v Speaker 1>stored elsewhere, such as grain. But there are examples that

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<v Speaker 1>seem to blur the lines between these distinctions. For example,

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<v Speaker 1>the Mayans and Aztecs used cocao beans and trade both

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<v Speaker 1>in bagged form and as a sort of change in

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<v Speaker 1>the form of loose, fermented and dried coco beans. These are,

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<v Speaker 1>after all, the raw ingredients responsible for chocolate, a prestigious

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<v Speaker 1>food in these cultures, plus by virtue of their botanical nature,

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<v Speaker 1>they already boast a highly consistent quality and weight. But

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<v Speaker 1>cocow beans were not the only form of edible money.

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<v Speaker 1>T also took on this role, particularly in Tibet, and

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<v Speaker 1>the reason has to do not only with the value

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<v Speaker 1>placed on tea, but also the use of compressed tea

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<v Speaker 1>bricks tea, particularly Chinese poor, is still widely available in

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<v Speaker 1>compressed bricks, cakes, discs, and even novelty shapes like hearts.

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<v Speaker 1>But as Wolfgang Birch points out in the use of

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<v Speaker 1>tea bricks is currency among the Tibetans in the Tibet Journal,

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<v Speaker 1>the Chinese introduced tea to Tibet sometime prior to seven

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<v Speaker 1>a d c. And while it was at first used

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<v Speaker 1>as more of a pure bartering commodity, it eventually took

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<v Speaker 1>a form that we might reasonably refer to as currents,

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<v Speaker 1>a regimented system of tea bricks based on the teas

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<v Speaker 1>quality and pureness, and eventually imprinted with trademarks and seals.

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<v Speaker 1>But of course this currency was one that you could

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<v Speaker 1>also brew into a delicious cup of tea. Salt, too,

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<v Speaker 1>can be added to this discussion, as salt bricks have

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<v Speaker 1>been used as currency in parts of Africa as well

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<v Speaker 1>as ancient Rome. In fact, is Shauna Freeman pointed out

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<v Speaker 1>in how Salt Works for how stuff Works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>the roots of the words soldier and salary can be

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<v Speaker 1>traced to Latin words related to the giving or receiving

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<v Speaker 1>of salt. There are times, therefore, when it is perfectly

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<v Speaker 1>reasonable to put your money where your mouth is. Tune

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<v Speaker 1>into additional editions of the Artifact each week, hosted by

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<v Speaker 1>either Joe or myself. As always, you can email us

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<v Speaker 1>at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of I Heart Radio.

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