There also used to be bearer bonds. In part because of concerns about money laundering, a lot of more or less untraceable large monetary instruments have gone away.
Those started with money changers and long distance travel did they not?
Before phones, if you moved between two affluent areas there was enough surplus capital in both that instead of hauling a heavy chest of silver coins between them and risking getting Robin Hooded you turn your coins in at one end of the trip and get reimbursed by a fellow in the same money handling cooperative at the other end, and then they would square their books through traders moving money the opposite direction or if necessary by armed escort.
There are MMO economies that either ban the flow of real money into the game, or only allow it to enter the game and not leave. In the case of the latter, poorer players trade their time and skill for something transferable in the game, such as rare items, or in the case of Eve Online, one free month of play time. There are Eve players who only ever payed for the first couple months in the game and then found a revenue stream that was subsidized by other players buying excess play time and selling it in-game when the demand drives the price up high enough to be attractive.
I don't really know the history but physical bonds and stock certificates were things within my lifetime. Safety deposit boxes for such were also a thing.I've never had one but my parents certainly did.
Before phones, if you moved between two affluent areas there was enough surplus capital in both that instead of hauling a heavy chest of silver coins between them and risking getting Robin Hooded you turn your coins in at one end of the trip and get reimbursed by a fellow in the same money handling cooperative at the other end, and then they would square their books through traders moving money the opposite direction or if necessary by armed escort.
There are MMO economies that either ban the flow of real money into the game, or only allow it to enter the game and not leave. In the case of the latter, poorer players trade their time and skill for something transferable in the game, such as rare items, or in the case of Eve Online, one free month of play time. There are Eve players who only ever payed for the first couple months in the game and then found a revenue stream that was subsidized by other players buying excess play time and selling it in-game when the demand drives the price up high enough to be attractive.