The Formation of Currency and Its Modern Significance

Money is the inevitable product of the development of commodity production and commodity exchange, and the inevitable result of the inherent contradiction of commodity economy. With the development of social productive forces, social division of labor and private ownership have emerged, and labor products have been transformed into commodities specially produced for exchange.

The exchange ratio of commodities is determined by the general human labor condensed in commodities, that is, the value of commodities. With the development of exchange, different forms of value have emerged. Value form has experienced simple or accidental value form, expanded value form, general value form and currency form. Under the monetary situation, money came into being.

Money is linked with human nature and human freedom, which is deeply branded with the mark of human wisdom. It is the level of human intelligence that makes some inconsistent or similar objects have a reciprocal relationship, and money embodies the abstract rationality of this society.

As Marx said, "money is a pimp between needs and objects, between people's lives and means of subsistence."

Extended data

The earliest metal currency in China was the copper shell of Shang Dynasty. Shang Dynasty is also called the Bronze Age in the history of China. The developed bronze smelting industry at that time promoted the development of production and the increase of trade activities. As a result, the most popular coin at that time was not easy to trade because of its unstable source, so people looked for more suitable monetary materials and naturally concentrated on bronze, and bronze coins came into being.

However, this kind of metal currency made of bronze is very rough, simple in design, not fixed in shape, without using units, and has not reached the level of widespread use in the market. Because its shape is very similar to the shell coin as a currency, most people call it a copper shell.

According to the analysis of archaeological materials, the copper shell was circulated with Beibi at the same time after it was produced. In the mid-Spring and Autumn Period, a new form of money appeared, namely, gold-plated copper shell, which is a thin layer of gold plated on the surface of ordinary copper coins, which is luxurious and wear-resistant. The copper shell is not only the earliest metal currency in China, but also the earliest metal currency in the world.

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