I covered real-world emeralds when I wrote about them in my much-missed Block of the Week column, so rather than repeating that, let’s talk about currency.
Money in the real world started out in the form of receipts – representing grain stored in Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Metals were used as symbolic of the value of the grain, because they were hard to obtain but easy to carry. But defending those grain stores was difficult, and the value of the currency was only as strong as the power of the military protecting it.
Coinage emerged next – carefully weighed out and stamped by the authorities as certification that it contained the right amount of a precious metal – gold for large amounts, silver for smaller, and copper for the smallest. These standardised weights formed the basis of the system of banking.
Paper money emerged first in China. They were originally receipts for deposits of coinage, exchanged by wholesalers’ shops, and valid only in the local area. But in the 10th century, the Song dynasty expanded their use and created the first state-issued currency. At around the same time, the medieval Islamic world invented many modern economic tools – credit, cheques, savings accounts, loans, trusts, exchange rates and more.
Today, the global economic system is enormous and has a huge influence on our daily lives – some would argue too much. Currencies are largely issued by governments of sovereign states, but airline loyalty points and credits in MMO games can also be considered valid currencies and are regulated as such.
In recent years a collection of decentralised “cryptocurrencies” like Bitcoin has emerged. It’s too early to tell if these are the future of money, or just a fad among technologists. If they do take over, then perhaps we’ll need to rethink how trading works in Minecraft. For now though, it’s emeralds you should be mining!
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