Currency transactions can be traced back to the earliest stages of history, perhaps from the time of the production of coins by the ancient Egyptians and the use of paper banknotes by the Babylonians.
Of course, in the biblical times, when an elementary international monetary system was just emerging in the Middle East, the Roman gold coin gained worldwide recognition; after it, a silver denarius and ordinary shares appeared among the money changers of that time. In the Bible, Jesus is angry with the money changers. We hope that His anger was directed at bad exchange rates, and not at the profession itself as such!
In the Middle Ages, foreign exchange transactions were established on the international market due to the growing use of promissory notes by large merchants and international debt securities by emerging European powers during their guaranteed placement of securities during war periods.