Solid blocks of tea were used as a form of currency in Siberia as recently as the 1930's.
As recently as the 1930s, solid blocks of tea were used as currency in Siberia.
Tea bricks were in fact the preferred form of currency over metallic coins for the nomads. The tea could not only be used as money and eaten as food in times of hunger but also brewed as allegedly beneficial medicine for treating coughs and colds.
