Wallets were developed after the introduction
of paper currency to the West in the 1600s. (The first
paper currency was introduced in the New World by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1690.) Prior to the introduction of
paper currency, coin purses (usually simple drawstring leather
pouches) were used for storing coins.
Early wallets were made primarily of cow or horse leather and included a small
pouch for printed calling cards.
In recounting the
life of the Elizabethan merchant, John Frampton, Lawrence C. Wroth describes the merchant as, "a
young English-man of twenty-five years, decently dressed, ..., wearing a sword,
and carrying fixed to his belt something he called a 'bowgett' (or budget),
that is, a leathern pouch or wallet in which he carried his cash, his book of
accounts, and small articles of daily necessity".
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