Read Interesting Facts You Need Know About Money

They say money makes the world go around and it is pretty

hard to argue otherwise. Here are some interesting facts

about money that you might not know.

Interesting Facts About Money

The first money was what is called a commodity money

system. The money was actually some type of commodity

that had an intrinsic value, but was used as a medium of

exchange. In ancient Mesopotamia, the shekel was actually a

certain volume of barley. In early Europe, salt was used as

money. In the Sydney Bay colony of Australia, rum was used

as currency. Colonial Virginia used certain cash crops such as

tobacco, rice, and wheat.

The first paper money issued by the United States

Government was printed in 1862. The reasons were the

shortage of coins and the need to finance the Civil War.

People were hoarding coins because they were made of

precious metals and confidence in their value as currency was

fading quickly. The first United States bills were intended to

replace these coins and were issued in denominations of one

cent, five cents, twenty five cents, and fifty cents.

The modern one dollar bill has an average lifespan of about

seventeen months before it wears out. The larger

denomination bills tend to last much longer because they are

not used as frequently. The one hundred dollar bill usually is

good for at least five years. If all of the one dollar bills that

wear out in an average year were put into a single stack, it

would reach 200 miles into the sky.

The Bureau of Engraving and Printing is the Federal agency

charged with the printing of money. Each day they print

around 35 million bills worth around $635 million dollars. This

does not mean that the money supply increases by this

amount every day. At least 95% of the bills printed each year

are intended to replace the bills in circulation that have worn

out.

Money has been the subject of our desires and a cause of our

problems for as long as we have used it. It is said that money

is the leading cause of disagreements in marriage. In the First

Epistle to Timothy 6:10, we are told that the love of money is

the root of all evil. It is calculated that if you had 10 billion

one dollar bills and you spend one every second of every day,

it would be 317 years until you finally went broke. Money has

come a long way since the days when people would pay their

bills with bushels of barley, or bottles of rum. It can be

expected that money will change even more as we move into

the future.