Shell currency: the most successful economic experiment of ancient blockchain

This account number is news &; The concept of contemporary blockchain of Netease signing account has just appeared 10 years ago, but similar attempts have existed for a long time. In addition, from the beginning, this mechanism was closely related to the monetary economy. You may think that shells are primitive and outdated, but their history as money prevailed in many areas until the19th century. Even today, with the popularity of Internet mobile payment, some countries still regard it as a recognized legal tender. The original distributed bookkeeping shell of 1 is the earliest known history of currency shell as currency, which is too vague to be verified. But before the human society entered the metal coin, people with shells spread all over five continents. In an era of inconvenient intercontinental mobility, shells have such a powerful influence on payment, which shows that they have great value and existence in the hearts of primitive humans. Since early humans did not have transportation technologies such as wheels and horses, sailing became the best choice for sports and transportation. In addition, rivers, lakes and seas are rich in aquatic products, which is easy to attract a large number of people to fish. Among them, shellfish are more likely to become readily available rations because they have no ability to escape. Accordingly, early works of art based on shells became popular. Most of the original necklaces, bracelets, earrings or pendants were made of shells and gradually gained exchange value. The economic development in the Neolithic Age gave birth to the demand for trading media. With the increase of human community, the development of early agriculture and animal husbandry gave birth to a large number of surplus products. Therefore, the exchange behavior in different regions began to appear. However, most agricultural and animal husbandry exports have only a short shelf life, which is inconvenient for traders to carry in large quantities, forcing human beings to seek relatively stable and rich trading media. Shells with stable output took advantage of the trend and became the first currency in human history. Beyond the inherent cognition of many people, shell coins have the characteristics of distributed bookkeeping from the beginning. Although many people will compare today's national currency, there is no clear concept of centralization in shell trading. Every coastal or riverside tribe can "mine" at the water's edge, and then process it into a relatively neat form by itself. The only industry standard is to use shellfish shells as culture medium, not the remains of other organisms. Even if inland Americans have a whim and want to create snail shell coins with similar forms, they can't continue to go beyond this category. Looking for shells by the river is a primitive "mining". As for the very important specific value, it depends entirely on the outcome of the negotiations between the two sides. In other words, not only does the purchasing power of shells fluctuate with the amount of materials, but also the price itself has many variables in the circulation process. A resident living inland may exchange a large number of shells for speculation, and will soon find that their prices have fallen due to various irresistible factors. This is mainly because the shell, as a currency, lacks the necessary reserve system for modern financial products. The output of shellfish may rise and fall due to natural factors. People can't come up with reliable and stable products as their endorsement of shell coins. Therefore, shells belong to a typical barbaric growth stage, which has many similarities with the early blockchain of later generations. The value of shells as money fluctuates sharply. Facing the challenge of precious metals, once Minos' early Crete copper coin society entered the Bronze Age, the limitations of shell currency were exposed. The birth of commodity trading makes it impossible for businessmen and managers to tolerate shells without endorsement. Thus, the original precious metal currency was born. At first, as an important strategic resource, copper mine was a very valuable means of payment. Archaeologists discovered the primitive copper coins cast by Minoan civilization in Crete. Its raw materials come from Cyprus, which is rich in copper mines, and it is very international. Of course, the introduction of precious metals does not mean the end of the history of shells as money. People naturally prefer high-net-worth gold, silver, copper and iron in large-scale cross-regional trade to enhance purchasing power and facilitate transportation. However, in a specific community, shells are still a routine means of daily payment. Especially in non-coastal areas, the value of shells increases inversely with the decrease of coastal miners. Therefore, it was not until the technology of raising horses was developed that the circulation field of shell coins was further compressed. Due to the blockchain attribute from the beginning, shell coins can completely maintain their significance within the radiation range of origin. Because as long as there is the user's approval, even the game currency can have complete financial ability. However, with the development of transportation technology and the extension of international trade, Beibi was gradually eliminated in many areas. First, it is in the eastern Mediterranean region where the commodity economy is the most developed, and then it has close relations with Syria, the two river basins and Egypt. The exploitation and circulation of a large number of gold and silver have caused the value of copper coins to drop rapidly, squeezing out the last position of shells in daily life. In the 7th-6th century BC, the Lydians in the west of Asia Minor Peninsula made revolutionary round gold and silver coins. In 200 years, this form was unanimously recognized in Greece and Phoenicia and quickly popularized. Through their spread, they spread all over the Mediterranean world, Egypt, the Black Sea Basin and Mesopotamia. When the Persian army marched westward from the mountains further east, it immediately took over the financial coinage system. By the 5th century BC, silver coins with stable colors had become the main object of imperial taxation. Persians also used various means to accumulate a large amount of precious metals in their treasuries as a reserve for issuing coins at any time. Although this process is still rough and primitive, it already has the financial operation norms for the next Millennium. Lydia gold coins in the 7th-6th century BC, Athenian silver coins in the 6th-5th century BC, and Persian silver coins in the 6th century BC, even in places where there is not much gold and silver circulation, as long as the value of copper coins is reduced, it is enough to popularize metal money. India, for example, issued square silver coins with local characteristics at least during Ashoka's Peacock Empire. However, in the border areas where imperial power control is weak, shells continue to be carried as the value of small groups. When Mediterranean businessmen in Hellenistic era came to john young, the monetary system in the western coastal areas was completely upgraded. However, in the Bay of Bengal, which is densely covered with swamps and rarely touched by outsiders, until the19th century, shells still assumed the function of money. During this period, together with precious metals, spices or other commodities, they will become flexible and diverse means of transaction payment. As for the very immoral slaves, they are also the circulating resources of this huge market. In more remote East Asia, metal money also appeared in the Zhou Dynasty. But at the same time, the phenomenon of shells as folk currency has been continuing. Similar to the process of currency upgrading in the Mediterranean and West Asia, it is also staged here again. The early copper coins were of high value, so they were large and didn't need to carry too much. However, with the increase of copper mines and the input of a small amount of gold and silver, copper coins gradually shrink, crowding out the shell market. However, due to the narrow communication pipeline and the fact that weapons are mainly made of a large amount of copper, the use of artillery shells continued until the later period. Qin Shihuang's round square hole money is a key step to enhance the currency value. A lot of copper coins connected in series with ropes are similar to the shell necklaces of ancient ancestors. Although the Qin Dynasty never eliminated the Beibi, the influence of this choice continued until the Qing Dynasty in the19th century. In the 4th century BC, Qin Shihuang, the silver coin of Peacock Empire, and the seven male copper coins of Warring States, chose round square hole coins, but failed to eliminate shells. At the end of the Middle Ages, the limited output of precious metals faced the need that could not support the development of economic aggregate. The original motive force of the era of great navigation was the joint treasure hunt of European royal families, nobles and businessmen. They also quickly discovered the primitive economies on both sides of the Atlantic that used shell currency in large quantities. The Portuguese who landed in West Africa realized that the tribes along the Gulf of Guinea used shells as a means of payment. Even the most economically developed sub-Saharan kingdom will agree to accept the shells brought by the people. Although gold, weapons and salt have circulation properties, their weight and popularity are not as extensive as artillery shells. So the early commercial station fortress arranged 1 professional staff to clean up the shells. Then send weapons or luxury goods from Europe in exchange for local gold and slaves. Portuguese, a businessman who is using shells in West Africa, exchanged shells for many colonists in northwest Europe in West Africa in the17th century, and also found that Indians in North America like to use shells as currency. Despite being isolated from the world for nearly ten thousand years, they also formed a characteristic economy similar to distributed bookkeeping. As for South America, which had been conquered by the Spanish before, Shell Payment was first eliminated due to the massive mining of silver mines in Peru. But the shell economy in North America lasted at least until18th century. Members of the Indian economic circle were strictly protecting their shell currency system before recognizing European gold and silver, and thus contributed a lot of expensive fur. Indians in North America also continue to use shells as money. The ultimate pressure of the modern world. Shell money in West Africa and other places lasted until19th century. Readers may feel that shell money has a strong viability when they see it here. Throughout history, it is not difficult to find that it is of great significance to maintain an independent economic zone in a specific place. However, due to the lack of reserves mentioned above, shells are always easy to fall into a disadvantage in front of precious metals. These defects are also the defects of blockchain currency at the beginning of 2 1 century. Or take Africa, which has long insisted on shell trading, as an example. 15- 19 century, the economic strategy of the local black kingdom was limited contact, exporting irreplaceable goods, and strictly * * * European business groups entered the mainland market. Of course, they actually need weapons and other commodities imported by white people, but they can generally maintain this balance. However, with the arrival of the more powerful British Empire, the methods used to deal with businessmen from * * *, Portugal and the Netherlands gradually lost their effectiveness. West Africa has become an integral part of transatlantic multilateral trade. The British can transport a large number of shells at any time if they want. After gaining an advantage in the Atlantic region, the British continued to influence West Africa through Ghana's Gold Coast and other places. The huge transportation advantage of British sea power allows them to transport tons of artillery shells at any time if they want. This weight undoubtedly far exceeds the camel team in the middle ages and the early adventurer fleet later. Therefore, no matter how exquisite the polishing technology of local soil workshops is, it will be defeated at the technical level. Secondly, when European and American countries banned the slave trade, the advantages of characteristic commodities of coastal tribes disappeared. As a result, the originally balanced trade suddenly went to an unequal state. As a result, the shell currency was quickly defeated in a short time. The remaining craftsmen can only turn "coin-making skills" into a customized tourism project, which continues to this day. In North America, the collapse of shell coins is even more suspenseful. As early as the British and French colonial period, a large number of aborigines abandoned their original traditions and tried to integrate into the international community. In other words, shell coins disappeared from the coast in a short time and degenerated into reserved items of trade between different tribes. After a while, everyone thought that its value was too low, which prompted the shell to continue to degenerate into the internal currency of conservative tribes such as Iroquois. Finally, with the establishment of the United States, which was born with the independence of 13 state, the westward movement completely replaced the original blockchain orphans. The abolition of the slave trade made West Africa lose its local advantages. Shell processing industry eventually changed from currency to handicraft industry. As of April 20 19, the global monetary system based on the gold standard has gradually spread, and the value of precious metals has also weakened. The shell at the bottom will have no chance to turn over. However, in today's Papua New Guinea, shells are still legal tender in eastern New Britain. But its symbolic significance obviously far exceeds its actual value. But you have to admit that shells, as the first official currency, do have extraordinary tenacious vitality. Looking back on the history of more than 5,000 years, we can be very clear about the advantages and disadvantages of technology similar to blockchain. In the barbaric growth stage of high net worth, there are a lot of risks besides benefits. Decentralized thinking application is its core competitiveness that has always attracted attention. But any currency can not be separated from the endorsement of value, which is the most important reason why countries have central banks today. 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