Both the Mayans and Aztecs used cocoa beans as money. They also gave beans as special gifts, and as offerings to the gods. The land where cacao trees grew became very valuable. Over several centuries, the Aztecs spread and took over much of this land. They collected taxes from the people in the former of cocoa beans. Their Aztecs kings filled storehouses with the precious beans. People say that the emperor Montezuma had more than 960 million beans in his storehouses.