whose history dates back more than 5,000 years and whose global influence can be seen in everything from how people govern to ...

The cowrie is the most widely and longest used currency in history. 1,000 BC: First Metal Money and Coins Bronze and Copper cowrie imitations were manufactured by China at the end of the Stone Age ...

China's rulers didn't want valuable gold and silver currency to leak into foreign lands, and so they imposed a bizarre rule. Sichuan had to use coins made of iron. Getty Images These Chinese coins ...