Money was historically an emergent market phenomenon that possessed intrinsic value as a commodity; nearly all contemporary money systems are based on unbacked fiat money without use value. Its value is consequently derived by social convention, having been declared by a government or regulatory entity to be legal tender; that is, it must be accepted as a form of payment within the boundaries of the country, for "all debts, public and private", in the case of the United States dollar.
Play money, toy money, or formally ludic money is money that functions as a toy or a token in a game or when playing.
The first such toy money was printed in 1880 by the Milton Bradley Toys company, and was actually a teaching tool, distributed to schools so that children could play at commercial transactions and learn skills for reckoning change, recognizing coins, and budgeting purchases. (Full article...)
Image 5A 640 BC one-third staterelectrum coin from Lydia. According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to introduce the use of gold and silver coins. It is thought by modern scholars that these first stamped coins were minted around 650 to 600 BC. (from Money)
Image 6Paper money from different countries (from Money)
Image 7Money Base, M1 and M2 in the U.S. from 1981 to 2012 (from Money)
Image 8Printing paper money at a printing press in Perm (from Money)
Image 9A check, used as a means of converting funds in a demand deposit to cash (from Money)
Image 26Tibetan kong par tangka, dated 13-45 (= AD 1791),obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 27A person counts a bundle of different Swedish banknotes. (from Money)
Image 28Sino Tibetan silver tangka, dated 58th year of Qian Long era, reverse. Weight 5.57 g. Diameter: 30 mm (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 29Athens coin (c. 500/490-485 BC) discovered in Pushkalavati. This coin is the earliest known example of its type to be found so far east. (from Punch-marked coins)
Image 30Tibetan undated silver tangka (2nd half of 18th century) with eight times the syllable "dza" in vartula script,obverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 31Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), reverse (from Tibetan tangka)
Image 32Tibetan silver tangka with Ranjana (Lantsa) script, dated 15-28 (= AD 1894), obverse (from Tibetan tangka)