Money has gone through a long evolutionary process. Expressing the value of the commodity world, throughout economic history they took the forms dictated by the achieved level commodity relations. Each historical period has its own predominant form of money.

In the era of subsistence farming, the exchange of surplus products was random. Initially, any product offered for exchange and thereby becoming a commodity served as an equivalent for another product (commodity) for which it was exchanged.

Gradually, exchange becomes a way of establishing economic ties between producers. From a number of goods, a group of goods was increasingly singled out, and then one product, which in its properties most closely corresponded to the role of an equivalent. This product subsequently becomes a universal equivalent.

Money - this is a product that acts as a universal equivalent, reflecting the value of all other goods. In a subsistence economy, when goods were exchanged for goods, the need for money was not as acute as in a developed market. And yet, even the most primitive states created their own types of money. The role of money, the standard of all exchanges, always fell to the commodity that was in abundance or for which there was the greatest demand. The predecessors of money were individual species goods used in exchange as equivalents. Such equivalents were cattle, furs, tobacco, etc.

In its evolution, money appears in the form of metal (copper, silver and gold), paper, credit and a new type of credit money - electronic money.

Metal money in its development came in two forms: full-fledged and inferior.

Full (valid) - this is money, the nominal value of which corresponds to the value of the precious metal contained in it. They perform all the functions of money and are the universal equivalent. One of the most famous and widespread types of money (of this group) are silver and gold bars, and then similar coins.

Full-fledged money had a commodity nature and had its own internal value. Feature full money was that their face value corresponded essentially to the value of the metal they contained. They are also not subject to depreciation. This means that if there are full-fledged gold money in quantities exceeding the actual need, they go out of circulation into treasure. On the contrary, when the need for cash in circulation increases, gold coins are freely returned to circulation from the treasure. Thus, gold coins are able to adapt quite flexibly to the needs of circulation without harming the owners of the money.

Valuable money is gradually being replaced by inferior ones, and gold is being demonetized. The demonetization of gold refers to the process of gold losing its functions as a monetary commodity. The spontaneous process of ousting gold coins from domestic circulation as paper and credit money was introduced culminated in the official abandonment of all forms of the gold standard in the 1930s.

Bad money , replacing gold, are representatives, signs of value.

Defective money (signs of value) - money whose nominal value is higher than its real value, i.e. social labor spent on their production. Defective money loses its commodity nature and does not have its own internal value.

Unlike full-fledged money, universal recognition bad money is ensured not by their intrinsic value, but by the trust of economic agents in their issuer, by the fact that they are legalized by the state.

Due to these properties of modern representatives of money, the advantage of full-fledged money has been lost - automatic adaptation to the needs of trade turnover. This means that there is an objective need for society, represented by the state, to take special measures for such adaptation. These measures have become an integral part of a set of methods government regulation economy, the main institution of which was the central bank. At the same time, there is an objective possibility for this. It lies in the fact that the prevalence of credit money, and at present its complete dominance has been achieved in almost all countries, has created a one-sided elasticity of money circulation, i.e. change (expansion or contraction) through operations mainly banking system(areas of credit money creation): central bank-- through the monopoly issue of banknotes; commercial banks - in the form of issuing credit instruments of circulation.

IN modern conditions the elasticity of money circulation has increased sharply due to development and unprecedented acceleration non-cash payments(often in real time, bringing these settlements closer to cash payments), as well as as a result of the expansion of deposit and banknote emission, in turn caused by an increase in internal and external economic turnover.

The following types of inferior money are distinguished.

Rice. 1.

Credit and paper money will be discussed below. Here you need to pay attention to the appearance billon, or small change.

The emergence of the billon coin is associated with a new stage in the development of the coin as a form of real money. It is designed to ensure normal performance monetary functions main (currency) coin. Its main difference is that it is not made of precious metal, therefore, it is inferior. Moreover, such a small change did not become such a coin immediately, but at a certain stage in the development of money circulation.

Minting, along with a full-fledged inferior coin, was the first reaction of money to the new requirement of circulation - the requirement of economy, which became more and more noticeable as commodity-money relations developed. The change coin is more actively used in circulation and therefore wears out faster. Moreover, the high cost of the precious metal necessitates the minting of small change coins. Such a coin was inconvenient to use and easily destroyed, which led to additional costs of precious metal. Making it from ordinary cheap metal was an objective necessity, and its successful operation, along with a full-fledged coin, contributed to the search for an alternative to full-fledged money and replacing it with inferior ones.

The advantages of the billon coin (cheapness, long-term operation) helped it remain in circulation even after the full-fledged coin as a form of money “left the scene.” And today it is widely used in all countries, even in those that have achieved great success in the development of non-cash payments and the electronicization of money circulation.

Defective money, not having its own value, being in the process of circulation, acquires a representative value (the value that it represents). The representative value of inferior money determines its purchasing power. The purchasing power of inferior money is determined by its representative value. The representative value of the entire mass of inferior money is determined by the value of goods in circulation (taking into account the speed of circulation of money), i.e. those goods for which it (the mass) is exchanged. In other words, it is equal to the trade turnover’s need for money.

Many centuries ago, to obtain the necessary goods and sell those that were in abundance, people used the simplest method - barter, or the elementary exchange of goods. With the development of crafts, the improvement of agricultural and livestock processes, as well as the expansion of areas of movement, this method of payment became increasingly inconvenient.

It was then that the first money appeared. They took root quite quickly, and soon the whole world was using another system of mutual exchange of goods: selling and buying. Time passed, countries and currencies changed, full-fledged and incomplete money, electronic payments and wallets evolved and appeared.

Definition of the concept

There are banknotes that directly depend on the material from which they are made. Most often it is gold, silver, copper. For such banknotes, the information indicated on the front side necessarily coincides with the commodity market value.

For example, a coin that weighs one gram of gold has a face value equal to the price of the same weight of this precious metal on the market. Otherwise, these means of payment cannot be considered as full-fledged money. Circulation and issue has a number of its own characteristics, advantages and disadvantages, discussed below.

Character traits

As already indicated above, prerequisite for such banknotes there is full correspondence of the nominal value to the real one. For example, a silver coin weighing one gram can buy exactly as many goods as the weight of this metal costs. In addition, full-fledged money is an ingot of precious material that can be used not for payments, but for other purposes. For example, for melting and further production jewelry, household items or art, weapons, etc. History knows many cases of melting down money for various needs, both individually and en masse.

Special nature

Essentially, full-fledged money is a commodity that can be bought, sold or exchanged. But the peculiarity of this property of these calculation tools is that they only accompany circulation, but are not intended for direct consumption.

Of course, the precious metal itself can be used for other purposes, but then it is no longer considered as full-fledged money. This phenomenon determines a special commodity form that is not inherent in any other payment instruments.

Everything can depreciate

By its definition, this payment instrument has a value that is quite stable against external factors. Despite the fact that it continues day after day for many centuries in a row, this metal not only does not become cheaper, but, on the contrary, its price is constantly growing all over the world. Silver, unfortunately, has lost its former value, but still remains among the precious metals. With the development of industry, copper has become completely cheap. In history, there have also been cases of depreciation of full-fledged money.

One example was back in the 16th century, after the discovery of America. Ships loaded with gold and silver, taken by force from the local population, headed to Europe. Precious metals began to fall sharply and greatly in price, and coins, accordingly, began to lose their value. But this process did not last long: the market rate was determined and the situation stabilized. Money made from silver or copper has also lost significant value several times in its history.

Important Features

Full-fledged money is not only a payment instrument, but also the most important lever government controlled and regulation. With their appearance, arose new feature state - not only the introduction of certain coins or bars into circulation, but also the adoption of the necessary regulations to regulate the activities of all people who use such means of payment.

Thus, full-fledged money exhibits legal and informational features or, as they say, has a “fiat nature” (from the word “decree”, “decree” - fiat). Thanks to this phenomenon, the principles of monetary policy are emerging, as well as the development of law and legislative activity states.

Appearance and forms

The forms of full-fledged money are not particularly diverse. Initially, gold and silver bars appeared in circulation. To indicate their weight and fineness of metal, the issuer minted this information on them. With such inscriptions, the ingot did not need to be reweighed, which significantly facilitated and accelerated the trading process. But the bullion had significant drawback- they were bulky and inconvenient to use, had high cost and were deprived of the opportunity to pay for small goods or minor services. Only selected members of society could possess such money, while the rest continued to conduct their usual barter.

These problems were resolved with the advent of coins, which, according to scientists, were first minted in a state called Lydia in Asia. A small piece of precious metal, minted in the form of a coin, served as a unit of measurement for the value of everyday products, services and works. Coins began to appear not only among the nobility, but also among the common people (peasants, artisans, ordinary military personnel, etc.).

Over the next centuries, these types of full-fledged money began to appear in all corners of the world. They were minted in the shape of a circle, square, with embossed and smooth edges. In some Asian countries, for example, holes were made in them so that they could be strung on a rope and not get lost along the way. As a rule, the face value and the name of the currency or the place where it was minted were applied to the front side. But the variety of images on back side simply huge: mythical deities and subjects, portraits of prominent figures in politics and art, representatives of flora and fauna, weapons, buildings, cities and much more.

However, this trend has continued today. Moreover, both states and individual cities, regions, kings and feudal lords could issue such banknotes. It was quite easy to pay anywhere in the world - gold is valued everywhere! And today, most people definitely have a couple of coins in their wallet. True, they will be made of steel, brass, nickel and various inexpensive alloys.

Another interesting form is the classic banknotes redeemable for gold. That is, these are paper bills that have the properties of full-fledged money, and the value of which is expressed in the equivalent of a precious metal. Such money was used at the beginning of the last century. Even though they looked simple papers, but in fact their nominal value was confirmed by the country’s gold reserves.

Of course, the entry into circulation of a new type of gold products - banknotes in the form of bars and coins - led to the emergence of a mass of people wishing to illegally enrich themselves from this phenomenon. The scammers simply sawed off the coins, and made new ones from the gold obtained in this way. Accordingly, the mass decreased and was no longer equal to the nominal value. The common people could not distinguish a fake in any way, and weighing coins every time during calculations was completely inconvenient.

To solve this problem, they came up with ribbed edges. The sawn-off coin now stood out significantly and immediately aroused suspicion, and it was not so easy to repeat the carving in artisanal conditions. Later, technologies appeared that made it possible to apply a variety of designs and inscriptions, which further protected against counterfeiting. Today the value of coins is low, and there are not so many people who want to counterfeit them, but the tradition of carving has been preserved.

Main advantage

Full-fledged money had very important property, from the point of view of their owners: if there was an excess in circulation, they could simply be set aside as a reserve of precious metal (treasure). And then, if necessary, bars or coins could be removed by the owner and put back into circulation without losing their value (of course, except in cases where they depreciated due to unforeseen circumstances or events). This eliminated the need for complex regulation of savings funds and those needed for current needs.

Flaws

Along with all the advantages that made it possible to perform its main functions for a long period of time, full-fledged (real) money also has a number of negative aspects:

• Making coins from precious metals (gold, silver) requires quite a large number of expensive material, the extraction of which in itself is a labor-intensive and expensive process. In addition, not all states have reserves of these metals in their depths and are forced to purchase them from other countries.
• As a result of use, full-fledged money wears out, wears out, loses its original weight, and therefore its nominal value.
• The need for money can change over time depending on many factors. Sometimes there is a sharp increase, and then the lack of money in circulation can be acutely felt. The reason for this is that the production of precious metals simply cannot keep up with market needs.

Prerequisites for the transition

The functions of full-fledged money made it possible to ensure convenient trade turnover all over the world for quite a long time, but with the development of banking, credit relations and related processes, all payment system demanded changes.

Scientific and technological progress and population growth have caused a significant increase in the range of goods and services, as well as the need for them. Silver and gold were no longer enough to supply the market required quantity means of payment, and real money was replaced by inferior money. Another prerequisite was that banknotes ceased to be a value in themselves, but were necessary only as “intermediaries” in purchase and sale transactions and did not stay long with one owner, exchanging for various available benefits.

Bad money

At the beginning of the last century, real banknotes began to be replaced by banknotes that are made of paper, have virtually no nominal value, confirmed by a “gold” equivalent, are subject to severe depreciation and cannot be used as a commodity. Such money is called inferior. At the same time, they also have a number of advantages: simplicity in issuing, unlimited physical sense, as well as ease of handling. Such means of payment were able to solve the problem of shortage of money in the market, but also caused whole line other problems and consequences. Such as, for example, the need for exchange rate determination of the value of currencies of different countries based on many variable factors.

Just pieces of paper?

In the last century, the concept of “paper money” appeared. Full-fledged money has a secured nominal value, inferior money does not, and paper money is issued by the state to cover the budget deficit or for other similar needs. That is, these means of payment are not only not backed up by anything, but are also not coordinated with the needs of the market.

At the time of their issue, they perform the functions assigned to them, and then depreciate, along with other money of the same currency on the market. Thus, the fiat property of money is distorted and leads to negative consequences. It was thanks to this phenomenon that the definition of “paper” appeared, that is, meaningless, and not at all because they were made of such material.

Modern technologies

Progress has stepped far forward, and today both full-fledged and inferior money are becoming less and less popular. They were replaced by electronic currencies. Making purchases with a bank card or making payments without getting up from your chair is much more convenient and practical. Electronic money, of course, has its drawbacks, but the information and digital age makes its own adjustments and requires changes in the old good system payments using coins and banknotes. True, even today many people prefer to keep their savings in the form of bank accounts in order to protect them from depreciation, believing that the precious metal is still the most reliable means of payments and savings.

The history of the development of money is the history of the development of commodity exchange. As the social production The forms and types of money are changing. In the process of its evolution, money took various shapes depending on one or another level of development of commodity relations.

At certain stages historical development its own form of money prevailed, the one most consistent with the economic mechanism.

Historically, there were two forms of money: full-fledged and inferior.

The first form of money is full-fledged money. Full-fledged money had a commodity nature and had its own internal value. Full-fledged money included metal money: bars and coins made of silver and gold. The peculiarity of full-fledged money was that its face value basically corresponded to the value of the metal it contained. It was the presence of intrinsic value in metallic money that ensured its universal acceptance.

The embryonic form of full-fledged money (the goods that were in greatest demand on the local market due to their special usefulness: grain, livestock, furs, salt, ivory, shells, etc.) appeared in a subsistence economy. The separation of crafts from agriculture leads to the fact that metals, initially in the form of ingots (rods, wires, plates), begin to be used as money a certain weight). In the X111th century. BC e. In circulation there are ingots with a stamp indicating their purity and weight.

Subsequently, there was a transition to minting coins from precious metals (silver and gold). The first metal coins appeared around the 11th century. BC e. in the Mediterranean states of Lydia and Aegina.

The purchasing power of full-fledged money (their ability to be exchanged for a certain amount of goods and services) depended on the value of the metal it contained. The more a gold (silver) coin weighed, the higher its purchasing power. As the value of gold changed, the purchasing power of gold money also changed.

The highest form of full-fledged money was gold. Since gold coins had their own intrinsic value, they functioned as a means of creating treasures. Gold treasures acted as an automatic spontaneous regulator of monetary circulation: when the needs of commodity circulation for money decreased, the coins that became surplus went out of circulation into the treasure, and when they increased, the coins came into circulation from the treasures. Therefore, the amount of gold money in circulation always corresponded to the need for trade in money.

1) Nullification – the state declares depreciated old banknotes invalid and issues new paper banknotes in smaller quantities. Conducted during a period of economic stabilization after hyperinflation to restore confidence in the national currency; after the war, during the creation of independent states and in developing countries.

2) Denomination – (change in price scale) - a change in the nominal value of banknotes with their exchange at a certain ratio for new, larger monetary units with the simultaneous recalculation of all monetary obligations in the country (bank accounts, prices, tariffs, salaries, etc.) . It also provides for the replacement of old banknotes with new ones, but without limiting the amounts. 3) Devaluation - under the gold standard, a decrease in the metal content of the monetary unit, with the cessation of the exchange of credit money for gold - a decrease in the exchange rate of national banknotes in relation to foreign currency. Devaluation does not eliminate the problem of monetary circulation and in modern conditions, it does not restore the stability of the national currency. Moreover, it leads to a decrease in the purchasing power of money as a result of rising prices for imported goods and promotes inflationary processes in the country. It stimulates the export of products and intensifies competition in the foreign market. 4) Revaluation – an increase in the metal content of monetary units or the exchange rate of paper banknotes in relation to metal or foreign currency. Restrains inflation processes in the country, because Imported goods become cheaper, but it is not beneficial for exporters who lose on exchange rate differences when exchanging cheaper foreign currency for their own strengthened currency under previously concluded contracts.

2. 46. ​​The concept of full and defective money, their types.

Full money- money whose nominal value (the value indicated on it) is equal to the real value of this money, that is, the cost of its production. Characteristic features of full-fledged money:

have intrinsic value and act as a universal equivalent of goods, i.e. in the conditions of commodity money they function as a measure of value

intrinsic value matches face value

not subject to impairment

physically used like any other product

the nature of full-fledged money is commodity

flexible adaptation to the needs of trade turnover - elasticity

Gold and silver bars

Gold and silver coins

Gems

Banknotes with metal (full) backing

Bad money- money whose nominal value is greater than its real value. Their purchasing power exceeds the cost of their production.

1. Characteristic features of defective money:

They have no intrinsic value, i.e., their nominal value exceeds their real value

Defective money is signs (representatives) of value. Defective money loses its commodity nature and does not have its own internal value. Unlike a monetary commodity, inferior money cannot be used for consumer needs.

Despite the significant costs of producing the entire mass of inferior money, the costs of production of each paper monetary unit are completely insignificant and infinitesimal compared to its face value. For example, a US $100 bill costs (including recycling) 4 cents. Therefore, in contrast to full-value money, the general recognition of inferior money is ensured not by its internal value, but by the trust of economic agents in their issuer, by the fact that they are legalized by the state.

Signs of what value are inferior money? What value do they represent? In conditions of parallel circulation with gold money, inferior money was signs (representatives) of gold (state paper money) or signs (representatives) of gold and credit (credit money). After the demonetization of gold, inferior money represents tokens, representatives of the value of goods in circulation.

Types of inferior money. The following types of defective money are distinguished:

1. government paper money – treasury notes;

2. credit money – cash (banknotes) and non-cash (balances on demand bank accounts, deposit money);

3. change (bilon) coins.

Currently, credit money and small change coins are in circulation in almost all countries.

Purchasing power of inferior money. Defective money, not having its own value, being in the process of circulation, acquires a representative value (the value that it represents).

The representative value of inferior money determines its purchasing power.

Thus, the purchasing power of good and bad money is determined differently. The purchasing power of inferior money, in contrast to full-valued money, is determined by its representative value.

The representative value of the entire mass of inferior money is determined by the value of goods in circulation (taking into account the speed of circulation of money), i.e. those goods for which it (the mass) is exchanged. In other words, the representative value of the entire money supply is equal to the commodity turnover’s need for money.

If we designate the purchasing power of the mass of inferior money as PS, and the need for trade turnover in money as PTOD, then we get

The need for trade turnover in money, and therefore the representative value and purchasing power of the entire mass of inferior money, depend on three factors: the quantity of goods sold, the prices of these goods and the speed of circulation of money and, therefore, do not depend on the amount of money in circulation.

The representative value of each inferior monetary unit is the portion of the value of all goods per one monetary unit. The value represented by each inferior monetary unit will be equal to the commodity turnover's need for money divided by the amount of money in circulation. Consequently, the representative value and purchasing power of one inferior monetary unit depends on the amount of money in circulation.