Richard Trudgen and Djiniyini Gondarra talk about how Balanda used valuable goods in the trade with places like India. After some time trade started to change, so they needed to find new items that were valuable and able to be used in other countries.

Items being used for trade included gold and silver, and they started to use them as a ‘middle man’ for trading as small amounts had great value.

Other people such as the Romans used gold and silver, but also used salt as ‘middle man’ for trading. While they did have some money, Roman soldiers were paid in salt at one time. (That’s where the word ‘salary’ comes from.)

One of the first things that were used for money around the world was cowrie shells. The Romans, people in Africa, and even in the early history of some states in America, used cowrie shells as a money.  Yolngu used cowrie shells in trade with the Macassans.

Various valuable items that could be considered a form of money were used as a ‘middle man’ in trade all around the world.

Produced by Aboriginal Resource and Development Services (ARDS) 2007