Salt and black pepper were used as currency centuries ago
Throughout human history, civilizations have used wildly different methods of trade. The first humans mostly exchanged goods by bartering. With time, they began using varied currencies to buy and sell goods. However, there were times when these currencies were actual goods.
Some spices became very valuable for trade. The word “salary” actually came from the Latin salarium, which referred to a Roman soldier’s allowance to buy salt. Pepper was also used as currency in some parts of Europe during the late Medieval period until the Rennaisance, when the spice became cheaper.