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People think about money much of the time: Do they have enough to live on, can they afford to buy a new car or house, or rent a better apartment, how much can they spend on food or clothes, pay for their children's education, the seemingly endless list of wants and needs that most everyone has?

Even with all of the attention we pay to the uses of money, we rarely, if ever, think about the money itself, that is, the actual pieces of paper or coins we carry around to buy things. Where do they come from and just what do they actually represent?

What would you say, if instead of our paper currency, you were offered some beads or shells for something you were trying to sell? Would you consider accepting beads or shells from your employer?

Before the advent of money, barter was the way goods and services were exchanged. And, although barter in the U.S. is still used -- to the tune of about $11 billion a year, it's a relatively minor, almost miniscule, part of an economy that totals around $14 trillion.

From about 9,000 to 6,000 B.C., livestock was often used as the medium of exchange. Later crops were used. About 1200 B.C., cowry shells were used in China. Tools made of metal were also used, which subsequently led to round coins. Around 118 B.C., leather money (deerskin edged in vivid colors) was used in China, where paper currency also first appeared but was discontinued in 1455. Another form of currency, wampum (white) beads, was used by North American Indians.

Almost anything can be used as money, which can very confusing. The primary requirement, of course, is confidence. That is, the confidence to exchange property or provide services for pieces of paper. We accept it because we're certain it can be used to acquire other property or obtain the services of others. And, I don't recall ever hearing anyone express any concern about the money we use, except that they would like to have or need more.

No matter what type of money has been used, it worked because people had confidence that it represented the value of the goods and/or services that could be bought and sold with it. Banks used to give receipts to their depositors, which indicated that they could be redeemed for whatever goods of value they were holding (usually gold or silver). Initially, these receipts denoted gold or silver that was held by the banks, and they were generally accepted as money because they were "as good as gold."

With the advent of modern technology, a new form of money has developed: electronic funds, that is, the transfer of claims for money held by financial institutions in depositors' names, which takes money beyond the physical possession of some sort of property, even paper or coins, to a digital accounting system that keeps track of ownership with bookkeeping entries.

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