COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
LET'S PRACTICE
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Chart it! The Morph of the Mediums Barter served as the medium of exchange for a long time. The inefficiencies of barter led to money. Money has evolved over time. It began as commodity money , evolved to metal coinage, then to paper backed by precious metal. Money is now backed fiat , which is a government decree that it has value. Money has further evolved into electronic entries in bytes, moved around via EFT’s (electronic funds transfers). Compare the functions and characteristics of each of the listed mediums of exchange to see how they are alike, and how they are different.
Precious Metal Coinage
Modern Metal Coin & Paper
Feature or Characteristic
Commodity Money
Electronic Funds
Barter
VC
PRODUCT PREVIEW
peer-to-peer trade intrinsic value fiat legal tender issued by central or reserve bank Government regulated exists in bytes stability of value
divisible into smaller units transportable
(poss.) (poss.)
durable
storage of value standard numerical measurement cryptocurrency stateless mined
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THE 21st CENTURY STUDENT’S GUIDE TO FINANCIAL LITERACY
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