Beaver Pelts as Early Forms of Money in the Economic Sense: Satisfying Store of Value, Unit of Account and Medium of Exchange Requirements

Abstract

This article examines the special case of beaver pelts, in part of the colonial era, in present-day parts of North America. When confidence in a system of currency with coins is present, this more conventional form of money takes precedence. A respected economic form of currency with coins has all three elements of money: a medium of exchange, a store of value and as a unit of account. This paper seeks to answer the question of whether beaver and deer pelts satisfied the three requirements for serving as a form of money. Currently, the Canadian dollar serves as the basis for money in Canada and the U.S. dollar serves as medium of exchange for money in the USA. It has been found that these beaver fur pelts met the three criteria necessary for them to be a type of money, though not as well as some other forms of money.