1. Before money was made of bills and coins, these items were used as currency: conch shells, ivory, clay, live animals and grain. As long as it was divisible and scarce, it could be deemed "money".
2. The name money comes from Middle English: from Old French "moneie", from Latin "moneta", "mint" or "money", originally a title of the goddess Juno, in whose temple in Rome money was minted.
3. The term "check" or "cheque" is derived from the game of chess. Putting the king in check means his choices are limited, just like a modern day cheque that limits opportunities for forgery and alteration.
4. The largest numerical bill ever to circulate in the world was 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000, and it was the Millard Hungarian Pengo, issued in 1946. At the time, it was only worth $.20cents in the U.S.
5. The term "bankrupt" is taken from two words… bancus meaning bench in Latin on which bankers used to ply their trade in the marketplace and ruptus meaning broken – once the banker could no longer trade, the bancus would be broken to signify the banker is out of business.
6. The typical lifespan of a $1 bill is just 18 months. While the lifespan of a $100 bill is close to 9 years.
7. The vast majority of the planet's currency exists in electronic form – banknotes and coins make up just 8% of the global total.
8. There really is a 100 Trillion Dollar Note! During a period of intense hyperinflation in Zimbabwe, where a loaf of bread could cost $300 billion, a $100 trillion note was produced. Of course the note is, in fact, nearly worthless…or rather it is currently worth a whole 40 U.S. cents.
9. The first ATM machine was installed in 1967. The ATM (or Cashpoint) was the brainchild of Scottish inventor John Shepherd-Barron, who came up with the idea whilst taking a bath would you believe. He pitched the idea to Barclays and the first machine, once built, was installed in London in 1967. Before this invention, people needed to walk into their bank to make a withdrawal.
10. The first paper money was made in China over 1,000 years ago.
11. The first coins were minted around 2500 years ago.
12. In 1920, credit cards were first used in the United States.
13. The International Space Station is the world’s most expensive object ever built at US$150 billion.
14. The first Bitcoin transaction was to buy a pizza for 10,000 Bitcoins.
15. Queen Elizabeth II holds the record for appearing on more currency than any other person.
16. Over 170 different currencies are used around the world today.
17. The first living person who had their name placed on a coin was Julius Caesar in 44 BCE.
18. July 14, 1969 was the date the U.S. Treasury stopped printing paper denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, and $100,000.
19. During the Middle Ages, knights did not want to carry cash around because of robbers. Instead, knights wore special rings. When a knight stayed at an inn, for example, he would stamp the bill with his ring. The innkeeper later took the stamped bill to the knight’s castle to be paid.
20. Early Romans used salt as a form of money. In fact, the word “salary” comes from sal, which means “salt” in Latin.
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Last updated on 30/04/2022
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