Global Commodities This link opens in a new windowManuscript, printed, and visual primary source materials from over twenty key libraries and more than a dozen companies and trade organizations around the world depicting the history of fifteen major commodities and examining the ways that they have changed the world. Commodities include chocolate, coffee, cotton, fur, opium, oil, porcelain, silver and gold, spices, sugar, tea, timber, tobacco, wheat, and wine and spirits.