Aside from modern cash, credits, gold, silver, gemstones, etc what else would make a good currency without relying on a straight up barter system? Aside from Fallout with bottle caps, what other examples of unorthodox money?
I ask because I'm wondering how well human teeth would work. Molars, canines, incisors would be worth more or less than the other. I imagine baby teeth would be like change. Not everyone is going to rip out all their teeth by choice so would it be at least somewhat limited enough to work effectively on a large scale?
The Metro series made use of pre-fall military ammunition as currency alongside post-fall ammunition.
The logic being, that it was the only thing that consistently held value between stations (as they had huge differences in their needs and surpluses), was light and small enough to carry in great numbers and was available in greater enough numbers.
Another example is a "rep" economy. Where people exchange favours, information, debts and other such things for favours, information, debts and such. A good Samaritan is rewarded for being themselves and a greedy man is given a incentive towards behaviour that benefits the group, as they can only gain currency this way.
This only works on the smallest of scales, in very localised economies OR in very high tech settings, where impartial AI's and computer systems manage the currencies value and the reward for certain acts.
Jaxon Clark
Works well enough for Orks
Camden Ramirez
Do you want commodity money, representative money, or fiat money?
Carter Bell
>beanie babies
Currency is supposed to be something you're okay with giving away. I'd just hoard my beanie babies because they're adorable.
Jack Lopez
Giant stone disks.
>The monetary system of Yap relies on an oral history of ownership. Because these stones are too large to move, buying an item with one simply involves agreeing that the ownership has changed. As long as the transaction is recorded in the oral history, it will now be owned by the person it is passed on to and no physical movement of the stone is required.
>The physical location of the stone may not matter—though the ownership of a particular stone changes, the stone itself is rarely moved due to its weight and risk of damage. The names of previous owners are passed down to the new one. In one instance, a large rai being transported by canoe and outrigger was accidentally dropped and sank to the sea floor. Although it was never seen again, everyone agreed that the rai must still be there, so it continued to be transacted as genuine currency. What is important is that ownership of the rai is clear to everyone, not that the rai is physically transferred or even physically accessible to either party in the transfer.
Jaxson Harris
I am not smart enough to answer this.
Benjamin Bailey
>Commodity money Value comes from the material that the money is made of. Gold pieces, for example.
>Representative money Has no intrinsic value itself, but can be exchanged on demand for a commodity that does. For instance, a certificate that can be exchanged for a set amount of gold has the same value as that amount of gold.
>Fiat money Intrinsically valueless, gains value only because everyone agrees that it can be used for payment on anything. This is how most modern currencies function.
