ABSTRACT

Primitive money' is often indistinguishable from barterable goods, and when it is amassed it is more for social or religious than for commercial ends. Trade beads, primarily used for barter, develop through 'currency' into 'money'; and cowries have passed through the same stages of evolution and back again into ornament without any money value. And it is the borderline cases that throw most light on the evolution of money and interesting sidelights on human societies as well. An illustration may be taken from Uganda to show how an object can be at the same time currency or money, a religious symbol or a mere ornament. The conception of money and the practice of buying and selling for the purpose of acquiring it for personal enrichment are seldom met with among the simpler societies. A general survey of the objects and of the local attitude towards them provides a necessary foundation for the study of the origin and evolution of money.