[This is part of the series: The Complete Guide To Economics 101.]
What is money?
Money is any generally accepted method of payment for goods and services.
Most accept that for a medium to qualify as money, it much be:
Fungible
Durable
Portable
Uniform
Limited in Supply
Accepted
Divisible
In most places, a nation’s system of monetary exchange is government controlled.
Of course, if left alone, “money” can spring up anywhere.
I remember reading this paper in graduate school on the use of cigarettes as money in WW2 concentration camps.