This is a first article in a series that dives into the properties of money, examining historical and current examples.

For example, barley was commonly used as a medium of exchange in ancient Mesopotamia. In ancient Egypt, grain, cattle, and precious metals like gold and silver served as commodity money.

Unlike fiat money, commodity money has intrinsic value – examples include gold, silver or other goods like salt and cattle historically used in trade.

A commodity is also a raw product or a product that has undergone a minimum level of refinement to be marketable. Examples of commodities include crude oil, gold, silver, wheat, etc.

Commodity money has an intrinsic value derived from the commodity it is made of; for example, precious metals, food and even cigarettes. How Fiat Money Works ...