from Dollar Collapse
For most of human history, “money” was a physical commodity. Ancient peoples traded gold, silver, beads – even giant stone disks.
When money was scarce, people bartered. For instance, at the end of World War II, cash was scarce in occupied Germany. Ordinary Germans adapted by exchanging cigarettes for food and other necessities.
Money was also decentralized. If we lived in the Yap Islands centuries ago and used stone disks for money, there was no central stone disk authority to keep tabs on it. Your stone disks were yours, and mine were mine.