Money Down the Ages

3000 BC => Banking originates in Mesopotamia in the form of storage of valuables in Temples and Palaces. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * 1200 BC => Cowrie shells used as money in China. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..* 687 BC => Crude coins Developed in Lydia. . . . . . . . *600 BC => Round base metal coins invented in China. Silver & Copper punched coins of this period found India . . . . . . . . . . . . . *550 BC => Lydians make Gold & Silver coins. World's first bimetallic coinage. . . . *406 BC => Athens issues bronze coins with silver coating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .*394 BC => Pasion, a former slave in Greece, becomes world's first Banker. . . . . . . *350 BC => Greek banking developed. Normal loans charged 10%pa. Risky business like shipping charged 20%-30% . . . . . . . . ..*118 BC => Leather money issued in China. Gold coins issued India for the first time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..*14 AD => Augustus Caesar reforms the Roman monetary system and taxation systems and issues new gold and silver coins. . . *300-400 => Gold coins issued by Gupta Dynasty in India depicting Indian themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *765 => King Haeberth of kent produces first English pennies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *770 => Offa, King of Mercia, conquerd Kent and made the "silver penny" legal ("official" from offa) currency replacing the older "scent". . . . . . . . . . . . .*806 => Emperor Hien Tsung in China introduces paper currency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *1156 => First noted Foreign Exchange Contract signed. Two brothers borrow !!5 Genoese pounds and agree to reimburse the bank's agents in Constantinople the sum 460 Bezants one month after their arrital in that city. . . . *1300 => Muhammed Bin Tuglaq tries to make his coinage reflect the gold/silver price ratio prevailing in the free market. Inspired by the Chinese paper currency he attempts to create a fiduciary system of coinage (1329-1332). . . *1401 => Bank of Barcelona founded. . . . . . ,. . . . . . . . . . *1402 => Charging of interest ruled illegal in Florence, Italy. . . . . . . . . . . .*1455 => China abandons use of paper money. . . . . . . .*1545 => Henry VIII legalizes interest charges on loans and acts a central bank Governor . . . . . *1619 => Tobacco used as currency in Virginia. Around this time Mogul Emperor Jehangir issued Zodiac Series of gold coins. . . . . . . . * 1659 => First cheque issued in England . . . . . . . * 1694 => Bank of England established. *1835 => East India Company authorized to issue the Indian Qupee. . . . * 1900 => US Gold Standard Act comes into being. . .. . . . *1914 => Bank of England withdraws gold from circulation. . . . . . . *1944 => The agreement reached at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, US envisages a system of convertible currencies, fixed exchange rates and free trade. New financial instituions IMF and World bank established. . . . * 1950 => India introduces its own coinage on 15th August . . . . . . . *1959 => First Credit Card(Diners) transaction take place. . . . . * 1971 => US moves off the gold standard1 and leads to a free flot of dollar. . . . . . . * 1979 => European Currency Union is established with a virual currency ECU. . . . . . . . . . . . .* 1985 => ATMs start operating in the US. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . * 1990 => Banking operations are computerized . . . . . . . . . . . * 1999 => Eleven European countries merge their currency into the euro