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Throughout history, wherever there's been money, it has been borrowed.
The first money is thought to be cowrie shells, introduced in China 3,200 years ago as a less cumbersome form of exchange than cattle or grain. And while there's no official confirmation, it's likely that the plea "Buddy, can you spare a dime?" (or variations thereof) was uttered soon thereafter.
Today in the United States, almost everyone carries debt: credit card balances, a home mortgage, a car loan. Borrowing in ancient times, however, was strictly for the adventurous, with the price of payback sometimes dangerously high.
According to A History of Money from Ancient Times to the Present Day by Glyn Davies, the ancient Greeks charged a flat 10 percent interest, but rates for risky businesses such as shipping could run as high as 20 percent to 30 percent.
Which quickly ushered in the delicate matter: What if a debtor defaults?
Paying through the nose
Depending on the culture, the consequences for nonpayment have been grim indeed. Death, disfigurement, imprisonment or indentured servitude have all been popular choices.
Unfortunate Britons who failed to pay the danegeld tax to keep the Vikings at bay would "pay through the nose" and have their nostrils slit.
Debt collection methods in other societies have been equally inventive through the ages, according to Bruce H. Mann, professor of law and history at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence.
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