Today, paper money has almost completely replaced metal money from everyday life, which in ancient times was the only means of mutual monetary settlement. When did this process begin and where did the first paper money appear?
When asked where the first paper money appeared, the answer is unequivocal - in Ancient China. It happened in the 7th century, more than 1300 years ago, and represented the first paper money receipts of Chinese usurers about silver accepted for storage. These receipts could be entered into the treasury as payment of taxes, that is, in fact, it was money.
A little later, the usurers of Ancient China began to practice issuing receipts for the storage of bronze coins. These promissory notes indicated the number of bronze coins, which would be physically impossible to carry. An example of such a receipt can be seen in the figure on the left.
In the XIV century, in the same China, the state began to issue such receipts, and they were printed in special printing houses. These were already real banknotes that were freely exchanged for gold.
In Europe, the use of such "bank records" or banknotes for large settlements began around the 17th century. The denomination of one of the earliest known banknotes is 100 rikstaler and it was issued in 1666 in Stockholm.
A truly massive circulation of paper money began in North America, first in the British colonies, and after the War of Independence in the United States.
They often ask where the first paper money appeared - in China or Rome, assuming that their appearance was natural for the developed ancient Roman civilization. So, in ancient Rome there was a lot of what we use today, but paper money was not there.
