|
|
|
In the 10th century, coins in China were so heavy and worth so little that people preferred to leave them with merchants and use the handwritten receipts the merchants gave them instead. In the 11th century, the Chinese government took over and began to issue printed receipts with fixed values. These were the first bank notes. The idea caught on in Europe in the 17th century, and Europe’s first printed notes appeared in Sweden in 1661.
|
|
|
|