The term "trade" was first used in the modern sense in
ancient Egypt. From the fourth millennium ВС,
the land of the Pharaohs maintained trade links with other civilisations.
These commercial ties consisted primarily of the bartering of goods, such
as raw materials, hides, tools, even the brightcoloured feathers of exotic
birds, valuable shells and, of course, precious stones. The Persians were
the ones to invent the mintage of coins. The bartering of goods gradually
yielded to payment in currency, although the heyday of the coin did not
arise until the Middle Ages, when importing goods became of primary
importance. Suddenly Venetian, Genoese and Pisan ships were sailing across
the Mediterranean to meet caravans bringing silk overland from China or
spices from India. On returning to their home ports, the Italian manners
sold their valuable cargoes to merchants. In the Holy Roman Empire, for
instance, powerful mercantile enterprises sprang up everywhere. The
Hanseatic League controlled trade to and from the North Sea and the Baltic
coasts.
Once the era of overseas discovery and exploration was
well underway, trade became a global matter. At that time, paper money (a
Chinese invention) was used in Europe merely as a receipt for monies
tendered, and the material value of coins still corresponded to their
nominal value. Yet money looked different depending on where one went.
Only money changers were able to determine the value of a coin by looking
at it through a magnifying glass and by placing it on the scales to find
out its exact gold or silver content. For this reason money changers were
an
