Money as a Medium of Exchange

It meant that goods and services could now be expressed in terms of monetary value. Tax collection played a big part in the increasing use of coinage, because landlords naturally preferred collecting taxes in the form of coins rather than chickens. In the Middle Ages, the annual market was the place to be for people looking to buy nonlocal products and to settle accounts. Enormous amounts of money would circulate at these markets in a very short period. In the months that followed, however, money would be largely absent from daily life. In the 16th century the great influx of precious metal from Spanish America boosted the circulation of coins. With the subsequent increase in trading opportunities and prosperity, it is now impossible to imagine society functioning without money.