26. Eel Money
There are not that many things that are more slippery than an eel – hence, the term. Perhaps that difficulty in getting a hold of them explains why eels were sometimes used as currency during the Middle Ages. Eels may not be a popular dish in the West these days, but they were once such a common staple in medieval England that they were used as currency.
For example, the Domesday Book lists hundreds of English watermills whose rent was paid in eels, bundled in “sticks” of 25. One proprietor who received his rent in eels was “Giles brother of Ansculf”, who got 1000 sticks from his watermill in Bottisham, Cambridgeshire, and 2000 sticks from his watermill in Datchet, Buckinghamshire.