Prior to the modern era, people traded goods with each other based on what they grew, owned or made. As the size of traded goods grew larger, it became too burdensome to carry and the use of items of value, such as gold, silver, and other precious metals became much easier to use instead. In particular, gold was often used in the form of coins because of its scarcity and substantially higher value.
As the weight of gold and other coins grew heavy
