Existing comment:
By Popular Demand:
People invent and re-invent ideas about money based on perceptions of value, actual circumstances, and societal agreements. To our eyes, the $100,000 bill may look the most "valuable," but during the Great Depression in 1933, a clamshell worth $1 was the only available money in some communities.
The More Things Change...
Today, credit cards are preferred over cash for their convenience, the Euro is accepted by many nations, and we readily swap cash for smart cards. The colonists would have preferred blue beads, a piece of silver, even a block of tea. So what is money and how has our perception of its value changed over time?
What's Money Worth?
In ancient Egypt, an octadrachm was worth its weight in gold. A credit card has no intrinsic value, yet its convenience makes it preferred by many. |