The first paper money — the invention that stunned Europe
Almost 1,000 years before European banks, the Chinese paid with paper. Marco Polo could not believe his eyes. The story of the first money with no value in itself.
In 11th-century China, merchants grew tired of hauling heavy iron coins. So jiaozi appeared — the world's first banknotes: paper promising an amount of coin kept with a trusted merchant. The state took over the idea and printed official paper money.
Marco Polo, astonished
When Marco Polo reached China in the 13th century, he wrote in amazement about "paper worth as much as gold". In Europe the idea seemed like magic: how can a sheet buy bread? The answer was the same as today — the trust that someone else will accept it.
And the first paper inflation
But the Chinese also discovered the trap: if you print too much paper, each piece is worth less. The same lesson Kosron Bank teaches — money without discipline loses its value, whether it is gold, paper or numbers.
