Samuel Pepy's journal is a fascinating account of how money functioned in the 1660s. There was very little actual money, everything was done in IOUs. He worked in the Navy, purchasing food and rope. The King gave him an IOU, he then wrote IOUs to people he bought things from. People seemed to know exactly how much you had.
One time a friend of his hurt a servant, the next day everyone went to cash in their IOU with the friend fearing there would be a rush to do so. The friend was ruined and lost everything having to pay out the IOUs. Respect was everything in such a society.
