Samples of things actually used as currency (or investment stock) in our own real world before the advent of paper currency. The Time frames are from a 25 year old college Economics book I just happened to still have on my shelf
Ammunition (Africa 19th & 20th century)
Coins, usually of precious metals (world wide, from Biblical Times)
Corn (Americas, until European Colonization)
Grain (Persia, Africa, Biblical Times)
Gems, both precious & semi-precious (world wide, from Biblical Times)
Livestock (Asia, Africa, Americas, Europe, Biblical times thru the Dark Ages)
Minerals (World Wide, from Biblical Times)
Nails (Europe, Americas, Dark Ages until the 18th Century)
Rice (Asia, until the 20th Century)
Pepper (Persian and Roman Empires)
Salt (Carthaginian/Roman Empires, still used in India until the 20th Century)
Tulip Bulbs (used as one of the first "Futures investments" in Holland, During the Age of Reason)
These were "barter" items whose value was generally established and set (ie. a chicken is worth six nails) by the society in question. This list is by no means totally inclusive and many other examples probably exist. This was just a small list in one book. It is amazing that so many strange objects could persist as a "currency" well into the 20th Century though.
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