From Barter to Money
Class 7 · Social Science Part 1 · 15 Questions
How does the barter system take place and what kinds of commodities were used for exchange under the system?
What were the limitations of the barter system?
What were the salient features of ancient Indian coins?
How has money as a medium of exchange transformed over time?
What steps might have been taken in ancient times so that Indian coins could become the medium of exchange across countries?
Write and enact a skit to show how people may have persuaded each other to use cowrie shells (or other such items) as the medium of exchange.
The RBI is the only legal source that prints and distributes paper currency in India. To prevent illegal printing of notes and their misuse, the RBI has introduced many security features. Find out what some of these measures are and discuss them in class.
Interview a few of your family members and local shopkeepers, and ask them their preferences in making and receiving payments—do they prefer cash or UPI? Why?
Imagine that you are a farmer and that people use a barter system where you live. You need a whole variety of things—a pair of new shoes, a sweater, and medicines for your grandmother. But you only have an ox that you can spare. How would you be able to exchange the ox for all the different things you need from different people or places? What difficulties are you likely to face?
What are the different types of difficulties you encountered in the situation above?
What are the instances of double coincidence of wants in the above example?
What are the different ways in which money would make the above situation easier for the farmer?
Suppose you need to buy a book. You have ₹50 in your pocket. You visit the bookshop in your neighbourhood where the shopkeeper tells you that the book is worth ₹100. What options do you have to buy the book today? Will you request the shopkeeper to allow you to make the rest of the payment later?
Organise yourselves into groups of five students each. Take up a group project to collect old coins from family members, neighbours, shopkeepers, and so on. Document their various features—what are they made of, what is the year inscribed on the coins, what do you observe on the obverse and reverse sides of the coins. What can you guess from your observations? How would you know if your guesses are true?
What do you think happened as coins began to be used for all types of exchanges, whether to buy vegetables or to buy some land? What problems could have come up?