The unique situation of the British colonies in North America created a situation ideal for the introduction of the first authorized governmental issue of paper money in the Western World. The Chinese had been the inventors of paper money, possibly as early as the 8th century AD. The first Western awareness of paper money came with the reports Marco Polo brought back from his epic journey through Asia, but this knowledge had little impact on European economic thinking. Paper money first appeared in Europe with the establishment of the Swedish Stockholms Banco and its issuance of paper money in 1661.