In any society in the world, people are co-dependent upon one another for survival and sustenance. This takes form of services, agriculture, business, trade, and commerce. What was the basis of exchange of goods and services in Ancient Egypt? As is the case with most civilizations, the system of Egyptian Currency began with the simple barter method. More information on:

Ancient Egyptian Currency And Money Part1
Ancient Egyptian Currency And Money Part2
Ancient Egyptian Currency And Money Part3

Later grain was used as currency. Finally, gold, silver, and copper began to be used as Egyptian Currency, although not used in day to day trade and business, but mostly with traders from outside the kingdom.

Egyptian Currency

Importance of Egyptian Currency

The barter system, being the most efficient and simple came to be employed in Ancient Egypt. It must be noted, that barter means exchange, or something in return for another. No standard form of currency or coin or paper money was in use at the time. In Egypt, the barter method worked like this.

In case a merchant wanted a carpet that would normally cost 20 pieces of silver. But he does not have any silver in order to buy the carpet. He would then exchange a camel in lieu of silver and give it to the other person and obtain the carpet. Therefore, it as highly personalised and depended on whatever a person possessed in order to barter that object for another.

Another method of payment was giving one’s daughter’s hand in marriage. In 500 BC, coin, as a method of payment was established. Initially, the gold and silver that was brought into the country from outside, was considered as precious metals with standard weights and not as proper formal Egyptian Currency.

However, during the second half of 400 BC, merchants from the Mediterranean’s started depending upon these standard weight coins as a method of barter and payment. Traders from Greece, who, up till then, were satisfied with pieces of land in exchange of any service, began to ask for money, as in the ‘Specie’, an Egyptian coin that was akin to the Greek Tetra drachmas.

When Ptolemy began his rule, coins were minted with the faces of Hellenic kings. Silver and gold were accepted modes of payment, but bronze was much more commonly used to buy daily products. This was based upon the same standardisation of copper.

However, all this shift in the mode of payment and Egyptian Currency system had minimal effect upon local commerce till Roman era. This was so because the European concept of loans, interest on loans and amassing of riches began to be practiced in Ancient Egypt.

In an organized economy and centrally administrated state, taxes have to be levied. Since the major occupation was farming, grain was given as tax payment. It was used as currency, so much so that grain banks sprouted up. The copper currency of Ancient Egypt was called a deben ( .5 ounce copper).