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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;SeptimusT, post: 5482562, member: 91240&quot;]Proto-money and makeshift money are awesome topics. I think that whether something is considered bartering or money is as much a matter of philosophy as history. The line between the two is pretty fuzzy. I see a lot of similarities between something like a &#039;trade axe&#039; that has no functional use and Chinese spade money - both originating from a practical object that might&#039;ve been bartered, but reduced to being a symbol. Something like Aes Rude or Aes Grave isn&#039;t so far off, either.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1239136[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Anyway, here&#039;s something that can be classified as an early barter object, as a protocurrency, and as jewelry: a jadeite magatama from Japan. The earliest examples were made similarly to stone tools and used as jewelry objects, evolving to use more refined materials later on. These were produced between 1000 BC and 500 AD, with this example probably falling into the 300 BC - 300 AD range (Yayoi period). It&#039;s thought that certain regions of Japan specialized in producing these, trading them with other regions for other necessities. Eventually they evolved into sacred items and burial goods before mostly disappearing; one of them is still part of the regalia of the Japanese Emperor.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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