Paper money first came about under the orders of Emperor Hien Tsung, who ruled China from 806 to 821 AD. The country was experiencing a major shortage of copper, which meant, obviously, that they desperately needed an alternative to the coins that had been exclusively used worldwide up to that point. And, as Johnny Acton has noted:

"Before the invention of money, the only way to trade goods was via barter. If you had a spare goat but wanted a big pile of wheat, you had to find someone in the reverse position. This would have been fine in a community where the only possessions were wheat and goats, but once you threw a few more items into the mix the limitations of the barter system became glaringly obvious.

"First, there was the problem of matching up desires. What if the person with the wheat was only interested in swapping it for hand axes? It could be a long time before the first man found an axe-rich individual in desperate need of a goat. In the meantime, he might starve."

• STOCKS
• RELATED ARTICLES
• ALSO BY...

SEARCH:

Quote, Unquote: Biased Credit Rating Agencies?
Airlines: People Won't Fly, So We'll Raise Fees
Trading Radar: GDP Highlights a Thin Week
California Oversteps with HDTV Regulations
Goldman, Beaten But Unbowed

Quote, Unquote: Biased Credit Rating Agencies?
Low Inflation? Not in Prison
Rags to Riches CEOs: Larry Ellison
Rags to Riches CEOs: Ken Lewis
Quote, Unquote: The Heavenly Work of Bankers

Interestingly enough, the financial wizards of yore weren't unlike the ones steering modern monetary policy -- the Chinese government quickly realized how easy and inexpensive it was to print paper money -- much easier than making axes or breeding goats -- and began to overproduce it, leading to massive inflation.

It wasn’t until 1661 that Europe discovered the wonders of paper currency. With the permission of the Swedish government, a banker, Johan Palmstruch, began to print money which could be exchanged for silver pieces. And, as usually happens, history repeated itself. Palmstruch printed too much money, couldn’t cover all of his redemption requests, and was prosecuted for fraud.

However, the ease and convenience of paper currency won out in the end. (Have you ever tried carrying a thousand dollars around in coins?)

But, money doesn’t only buy goods and services. A group can make an extremely potent point by demonstrating their combined buying power to the world at large—in a way that's almost guaranteed to be passed on and on and on and on…something that just isn’t possible with your Mastercard (MA) or American Express (AXP).

Minyanville looks at 9 ways you can stand up and be counted -- with your dollars.