Where did people keep their money before banks appeared?

Many people today keep their moneyexclusively on a bank card. It is very convenient and safe, because the risk of being robbed in this case is significantly reduced. But hundreds of years ago, banks did not exist, and even the peasants had money. Typically, large sums were used by them to buy livestock or build a house. To collect the necessary amount of money, our ancestors had to go for tricks. Rooms with iron doors were available only in the homes of the rich, so the peasants built homemade caches... Within the framework of this article, I propose to find outhow people who lived hundreds of years ago protected their savings from robbers and why some of these hiding places are still intact. Each person has a chance to stumble upon a treasure that was left by our ancestors. In fact, this is not surprising.

"Jug" with coins

Secret rooms

Some people acted “smartly” and when theythey managed to collect a large amount of money, they bought land. If necessary, the purchased territory could be sold, and the land strewn with agricultural crops brought at least some benefit. Residents of wealthy houses had at their disposal entire rooms in which they could hide jewelry. As a rule, these rooms were well camouflaged and hidden behind iron doors. Some wealthy people hid their wealth underground - they simply put it in small chests and buried it. In Europe, this approach was used only in extreme cases like the outbreak of war. But in Russia this trick was used very often. After all, who would think that a rich man would hide his savings like an ordinary peasant?

Some treasures of Russia have not yet been found

First piggy banks

And poor people really buried theirmoney into the ground. But before that, they collected coins in the so-called "boxes". We are talking about a kind of piggy banks, which were made of clay. These vessels had steep sides and a narrow neck, which prevented the coins from spilling out when the jug was overturned. Sometimes the capsules were made by konchars, but some people sculpted them from clay themselves. It turned out rude and ugly, but then no thief would pay attention to such a piggy bank.

Broken "money box"

The clay capsules were small and large. Small ones were used to store a small amount of money and were kept nearby, in one of the corners of the house. In general, they played the role of wallets. But the larger egg-pods were usually hidden in the holes dug right under the houses. More inventive and suspicious people buried them under windows or trees. Sometimes it got to the point that hiding places were made on the graves of relatives or single people. It was believed that no one would dare to dig the places where people are buried. Since coins were previously used as money, egg-boxes were sometimes thrown directly into the water. But in places where they could be found if necessary.

The rounded shape made the egg capsules more durable

According to historical data, keeping money inthe land was widespread during the time of Ivan the Terrible. It is believed that in the 16th century, "earthen safes" were present in almost every home. They were also used by robbers, but they dug their hiding places in the forest, in places of particular interest to them. Sometimes the owners of the caches died without using their savings. That is why today many people have a chance to find a small, but still treasure. Depending on the denomination, age and appearance, old coins can be sold for quite a lot of money.

See also: How did the Vikings learn to build temples?

The first Russian bank

The first Russian bank appeared only in the XVIIIcentury. He only lent money, so it was impossible to keep savings in it. Something similar to modern banks was created only towards the end of the eighteenth century. Then the so-called Safe Treasury was opened, which accepted deposits for storage and issued loans on collateral. Since instead of the invested coins, people were only given paper documents, some people in those days did not trust banks. It seemed to them that official documents and gold coins were far from the same thing and were being deceived.

If you like our articles, subscribe to us on Google News! This will make it easier for you to keep track of new content.

If you are wondering how people lived hundreds of years ago. I recommend reading one more article. In it, I talked about what people used before the invention of toilet paper. I will not go into details now and just say that people in ancient times were very inventive. If you're interested, I recommend reading this article right now!