As early as 1200, round parmesan cheese was used as a medium of commodity exchange. Even in 2009, the new york Times reported that some Italian banks accepted farmers' use of wheeled Parmesan cheese as collateral for loans.

For centuries, human beings have tried to use many different things as money. Some of these forms, which people are familiar with now, have existed for thousands of years as effective means to promote trade, while other kinds of goods have played the role of money in the historical process of mankind, but they have all been replaced in the end.