ABSTRACT
Possibly one of the relatively less well-known approaches to the origin of money is the one which implies that money originated from the most marketable goods. This view equally presupposes a division between a moneyless economy and a monetary economy. A moneyless economy is distinguished by having some distinctive characteristics from that of a monetary economy. The most distinctive trait of such an economy is evidently the absence of money. These early moneyless economies also share other characteristics that are considered to be the building blocks of any economy devoid of money. These economies are considered to be self-sufficient. By that it means the entire production is directed towards self-consumption. It follows from this premise that in such a state of affairs there would not be any surplus product. The further point of difference is that whatever is being produced is shared between the members of the self-sufficient family units or the self-sufficient communities. So these economic units would also lack the institution of private property ownership. All these characteristics are caused by and are the inevitable consequence of the inadequate development of the division of labour and specialization of employment.
