What is Early money?

Early money is money that people used before we had coins and paper bills.

Imagine you're playing with your toys, and instead of using real money, you use stickers or small rocks to trade with your friend. That’s kind of like what people did a long time ago, they used things around them as early money.

Sometimes, people used shells, bones, or even grains of wheat to show how much something was worth. These were easy to carry and count, just like you might use your fingers when counting toys!

If you wanted a bigger toy, you could trade your stickers, which were like early money, for it. It helped people know what things were worth and made trading easier. So even though they didn’t have coins or paper money, they had their own special way to show value!