A currency is used for exchange and is a pecuniary unit. Generally, every state has one specific currency. The name of the currency can be similar or different. Some currencies are stable and their value does not change frequently. So these currencies are much more important in the financial business and one country can represent its currency in terms of another.
Let us go to the history of the currencies. We see that there were several forms of money in the past. In ancient times, different metallic coins were used as a means of exchange such as gold, lead, silver, etc. First time, the coinage started by the Greeks and with the passage of time, many other countries began to use their coins, e.g. China, Europe, India, Rome, etc.
The name of the major currency used in Greece was Athenian Drachma that was a coin made up with silver. Its size was 67 grains of sliver and it was stable currency. It was a great success of the Greeks that their currency got recognized on the international level.
In the Roman states during the reign of Nero, the currency soon lost its value and gold coins declined by 11 percent while silver coins devalued by 14 percent. US Dollar also devalued in the period of 1940-50. India introduced pure gold as a currency. Septimus Serverus reduced the Denarius from 32 grains to 26.
Then, the Roman emperor named Caracalla brought a sliver coin “The Antoninianus” on the scene, but after 45 years, it was also rejected.
There were many demerits of these metal coins in fact. The rich people were used to hoard the precious metals and thus, the circulation of money affected. The copper coins were also introduced, but lost their worth.
These currencies were selected keeping in view their quality and weight. Their value was due to stamp and the characteristic that people could not create their substitute or match themselves. It was controlled by the government under a particular standard.
After coins, paper currencies were introduced that are still worthy all over the world. The paper currency has a watermark and it cannot be copied. Some years back, a few people tried to put RFID tags on the paper and hence, prepared notes illegally, but such paper notes were detected and banned.
In 1999, Euro was at the 2nd number with respect to its value internationally. The most used currencies of the present time are US Dollar, British Pound, Japanese Yen, European currency Euro, etc. and Foreign Exchange business is going on successfully due to the consistency of these currencies worldwide.