Why did ancient money use copper instead of low-cost paper money?

Why did ancient money use copper coins instead of lower-cost paper money? It is largely because the anti-counterfeiting technology of ancient paper money is not as high as it is today. Now our paper money anti-counterfeiting technology is very high, and we need special equipment to verify the authenticity of paper money. At the same time, in the manufacturing process of paper money, its material is also forbidden to circulate, so it also greatly guarantees the true reliability of paper money. In the Song Dynasty, a currency similar to paper money-jiaozi appeared. However, this currency did not spread on a large scale, largely because this type of currency could not meet people's needs. By other means, it may be counterfeit money, which cannot be detected by equipment, which greatly hinders the circulation of paper money.

At that time, people generally used copper coins because copper is a heavy metal, and using paper money as money requires a lot of human and material capital to a great extent. This is because copper coins are used here, and if they are replaced by paper money, the replacement cost is very high. Moreover, paper money is not a very stable currency, which will lead to huge problems in circulation to a great extent. This is also an important reason why copper coins were used instead of paper money in ancient times. With the continuous development of paper money technology, when paper money can circulate stably in society, people will gradually replace copper coins with paper money.

In the development of ancient money, irregular money was first issued after Qin Shihuang unified the six countries. After gradual transformation, the measurement and material of money were reformed in various dynasties to maximize the quality and liquidity of money. Of course, the use of copper coins also has a very bad place, that is, the use of copper coins may cause wear and tear and make the currency depreciate.

Today's money is gradually evolved from the previous money. The development of paper money is largely due to the authenticity of paper money, which can be upgraded qualitatively through technical improvement.