Class 7 Social Science Part 1 Chapter 11, From Barter to Money, traces how human societies moved from direct exchange of goods (the barter system) to metallic coins, paper currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India, and modern digital payments like UPI.
What Class 7 Social Science Chapter 11 Covers
Why Do We Need Money? Limits of the Barter System illustrates the double coincidence of wants, lack of a common measure of value, indivisibility, portability and durability problems in barter, while noting surviving barter traditions like Assam’s Junbeel Mela.
Basic Functions of Money explains money as a medium of exchange, a measure of value (unit of account), a store of value, and a standard of deferred payment.
The Journey of Money: Coinage, Paper Currency & Digital Money tracks cowrie shells, ancient silver punch-marked karshapana coins, Roman and Gupta coinage, Rupiya, RBI paper currency notes (with security features and ₹ symbol by Udaya Kumar), debit/credit cards, net banking and QR-code UPI payments.
Exercises in Chapter 11
- Before we move on… chapter takeaways and Questions and activities for revision and map work.
Read Class 7 Social Science Chapter 11 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 10: The Constitution of India — An Introduction
- Next: Chapter 12: Understanding Markets
- Hindi medium: Class 7 Social Science Part 1 Chapter 11 PDF in Hindi (Samaj ka Adhyayan)
- All Social Science chapters and the other Class 7 books: Class 7 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
FAQ
What is the ‘double coincidence of wants’ in the barter system?
It is the condition where two people each possess the exact good the other person wants and are willing to exchange them directly—a rare match that made barter slow and difficult.
What are the main functions of money?
Money serves as a medium of exchange for buying and selling, a common measure of value (price), a store of value for saving for the future, and a standard for future payments.