Cacao Bean Currency

Timeline

1. c. 900–1200Yucatán Peninsula · YucatánMaya documents and painted pottery show cacao beans held special value in ceremonial gifting and market exchange; the Toltecs and later city-states continued the tradition of cacao as a prized exchange good, laying the foundation for monetization in the imperial period.
2. 1441–1450Tenochtitlan · Valley of MexicoIn the mid-fifteenth century, the great market of Tenochtitlan priced goods such as rabbits, cloth, and blades in cacao beans; the empire collected cacao tribute from vassals and reintroduced it into market circulation, forming a hierarchical commodity-money network.
3. 1521–1550New Spain · MexicoAfter Cortés's conquest, Spanish silver coinage and in-kind tax systems were introduced, rapidly marginalizing cacao bean currency; colonial authorities banned or restricted cacao pricing, and the traditional exchange system was replaced by European metallic currency within decades.