Primitive Money

Book excerpt: Primitive Money: In its Ethnological, Historical and Economic Aspects: Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged deals with the study of the role of money in the past and in selected regions of the world. This selection is divided into three sections, designated as Book I, Book II, and Book III. Book I discusses the ethnology of money extending back to more than 5,000 years ago, to the dark age when not much written evidence existed, and to today's various communities scattered around the world. The text covers the regions of Oceania, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Book II looks into the historical aspect of money, from the ancient period comprising prehistoric currencies such as tools and ornaments, to the Medieval period, and then to modern times. Book III is the theoretical section that attempts to define primitive money, its functions, and its perceived value. This book applies something modern when it discusses primitive monetary policy, such as active and passive attitudes of the State, restrictionist policy, stabilizationist policy, and expansionist monetary policy. This section also discusses the philosophy of primitive money, and its economic and historical roles. The change from primitive to modern money is examined, and the future prospects such as the continuance or redemption of primitive money is discussed. Anthropologists, sociologists, economists, historians, students and academicians doing sociological research, and even businessmen and industrialists can benefit from reading this text.