Aztec Cocoa Money
OriginMexico
First Minted1400
MaterialCocoa
TypeCommodity
About Aztec Cocoa Money
The Aztecs used cocoa beans as currency. A rabbit cost 10 cocoa beans and a slave cost 100. Cocoa beans were also ground into a frothy drink consumed by the elite. The Spanish were astonished that money literally grew on trees. Counterfeiters made fake cocoa beans from clay. The Aztec economy also used cotton capes and gold dust as currency. The cocoa bean monetary system persisted in remote areas for decades after the conquest.
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