The Aztecs used cocoa beans as a form of physical currency
Aztec society valued cocoa beans so highly that the seeds functioned as a standardized currency, allowing citizens to purchase everything from fresh produce to livestock in bustling marketplaces.
Cocoa beans served as a primary medium of exchange in the Aztec Empire because they were portable, divisible, and difficult to counterfeit. While commoners used them for daily transactions, the beans were considered so precious that they were often demanded as tribute from conquered regions.
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