Money is the undisputed determinant of quality of life for inhabitants of the modern world. The concerns of money have become pertinent to people all over the world, including the ones who are living in communist societies. Money has made an indelible mark on our lives, and it controls our politics, entertainment, social bonds, and fears, among other aspects. Hollywood has become synonymous with colossal amounts of money as opposed to it being an entertainment capital. Political campaigns in places like America and Britain require millions of dollars to conduct; consequently, politics has become an exclusive club for the rich. Nevertheless, money today is a product of events that have transpired over a period of many centuries. Money is also known to elicit mixed feelings among individuals of various social and religious orientations. Christians, Jews, and Muslims are known for having a love-hate relationship with money. Other communist oriented societies like to inter-relate with money whilst maintaining a healthy distance from this commodity. The history of money is marked by several financially significant events such as the advent of banking, financiers, investment banking, and insurance services. The advent of virtual money has eliminated the need for bartering. Global tax rates have become largely uniform over the course of the last century as countries seek to compete against each other on the global-economic front. This paper catalogs my reflections about money, its purpose, and significance with respect to how all these factors have changed over the course of history. It has become clear to me that trust and the availability of external authorities are the two main factors that have made money popular. Previously, I was of the view that money was explicitly designed to replace barter trade. However, it is true that barter trade was not the only form of trade in most societies. Some societies utilized gift economies as a means of doing business, while others used intricate forms of credit systems for their trading needs. Barter trade continued to thrive for many years, even after money economies gained prominence. The topics that were covered in this semester indicate that money is mostly synonymous with administrative powers. Consequently, societies that had well-structured administrations, such as the Roman Empire tended to embrace the use of money faster than informal civilizations. The interests of tax collectors were another great contributor to the popularity of money. It was easier for early administrations to collect money as opposed to them collecting commodities from farmers and work smiths. The popularity of money-based economies was not a solution to barter trade. Money became popular because it favoured the main stakeholders, including governments and wealthy merchants. There are many examples of rhetoric that involves money and its purpose in society. As a child, I often found myself wondering why people had to work for a piece of paper that can be printed quite easily. People were using money as early as ten millenniums ago. The earliest known material for making money was obsidian and it was later on replaced by copper and silver. Money in the form of animals or grains was also an interesting conce