Cowries, which are small shells, are a very primitive form of money, still used in parts of Africa and in Siam. They were formerly so used in India, where $150,000 worth used to be imported annually. In Africa 5,000 shells are equivalent to $1. ] Here, again, is shown the impulse of man to free himself from the exigencies of the moment, to lift himself above the fortuitous differences that arise between supply and demand. The more varied the production, the more difficult it becomes to find men who are able to offer the required commodity in exchange for what has been brought to them. An escape from this embarrassment lies in the discovery of a universal measure of exchange value and medium of exchange--money. Money is the means of adjustment which renders traffic between men independent of individual requirements. Mediums of exchange, particularly necessary for the carrying on of traffic between different communities, which exist in large quantities and can be divided up into parts, make their appearance in very early times. At first their values are more or less empirical, dependent upon the conditions of individual cases, until gradually a medium obtains general recognition and thus becomes money. The same need for surmounting the lack of uniformity in individual requirements has led the most different peoples in the world to the invention of money. Naturally, many different things have been employed as mediums of exchange; these vary according to geographical situations, conditions of civilisation, and the customs of races. Pastoral tribes at first employed cattle; but tobacco, cowries, strings of flat shells, bits of mother-of-pearl, rings, and hides are also used. At last it is found that metal is stable, durable, divisible, and of generally recognised value; and finally the precious metals take precedence of all others. Finally this form of money is adopted by all civilised races. Division of labour originates in the development of the handicrafts, in the distinction made between the labour of working up the raw material and that of its production. With the help of a currency it leads to a complete transformation, not only of economic relations, but also of the social conditions of men. [Illustration: Coin of Alexander the Great The earliest inscribed coin, 7th century B.C. Coin of Demetrius Poliorcetes, King of Macedonia Early British coin Coin of Tigranes, King of Armenia Early British coin Coin of Mithridates the Great, King of Pontus A Tetradrachm of the 5th century B.C. A Tetradrachm of the 6th century B.C. Gold coin of Philip II. of Macedon Persian Gold Daric, 5th century B.C. Early Roman bar money of the 4th century B.C. Iron bar money of South of England THE BEGINNING OF MONEY: SOME OF THE EARLIEST KNOWN COINS IN EXISTENCE