How Did Ancient Economies Survive Without Banks?

Ancient people used barter and coins to trade instead of banks.

Imagine you want a toy but don’t have money. You might give your friend some candies in exchange for the toy, that’s like barter. In ancient times, people did this with things like grain, cloth, or even animals. If someone had extra wheat and wanted some meat, they would trade them directly.

But sometimes, trading was hard because you needed what the other person had. That's where coins came in handy. Coins are like little pieces of metal that everyone agrees have value, just like how you might use play money at school to buy snacks from your friend.

Coins made trading easier because you could carry them around and give them to anyone who wanted to trade with you. It was like having pocket money that never runs out, as long as you had coins, you could buy things anywhere!

Some ancient cities even had people called money changers, who helped count coins or change one type of coin into another, just like how a teacher might help you count your allowance!