The function of money is to act as a portable store of value. Barter breaks down very early in a society's history. Too many things just aren't portable enough to work as money.

In an ideal world, a given amount money would represent a certain amount of real wealth or created value. Practically, this is difficult. A gold and precious metal standard works for small societies, but it is far too limited for a major technological civilization. Some "commodity basket" might work, but to really nail it down you'd have to include services, too. The details rapidly get above my pay grade.

But I do know that juggling a thousand paper dollars into a million is doing something that will come back and bite you sooner or later.