5 Weird and Fun Facts About Money
Have you ever wondered where the concept of money actually came from?
Even though it’s something that people use every day, most people know very little about the finer details of money. During the course of human history, it has evolved from a simple bartering system into the complicated structures that we now use.
If you want to start thinking about money in a new way, read on and we’ll tell you about the top fun facts about money.
1. The First Official Currency Was Minted More Than Twenty Five Centuries Ago
It was a Greek poet by the name of Xenophanes who first wrote about how money was first minted. He lived in the sixth century BCE and he gave credit to the first metal coinage to the culture of the Lydians. It was a king named Alyattes who was to mint a currency.
The coins were made of electrum, a mixture of gold and silver. Artesians printed them with various images to represent their different denominations.
During this period of human history, a clay jar would cost your two owls and a serpent. By printing their first currency, the Lydian culture was able to develop its trading networks. It quickly became one of the most wealthy countries in Asia Minor.
This is why you might sometimes hear people using the phrase “as rich as Croesus.” As the first Lydian king to mint a gold coin, Croesus was one of the richest people in the world. If he’d been alive today he likely would have been a billionaire.
After the Lydians minted their first coin, many cultures quickly followed suit. Within a few centuries, almost every civilization in Asia and Europe had its own currency.
2. Money Has Germs All Over It
Experts say that more than ninety percent of the money in circulation hosts pathogens such as salmonella and E. coli. Cotton money usually has the most germs, but every kind of paper money tends to accumulate germs.
In fact, it’s possible for the flu to survive on paper money for more than three days. This is why it’s important to wash your hands after you handle money. You should also not touch your mouth or eyes when you are handling it. If you are not careful, it could get you sick.
3. It Costs More Money to Produce Coins Than They’re Actually Worth
It didn’t always be the case that it cost so much to produce money. But after metal prices began rising, it’s become much more expensive to mint coins. It actually costs nearly two cents to print a one-cent coin and it costs about eight cents to create a nickel.
Even if the US government were to change the materials they print coins with, it would still be more costly to produce them than they’re actually worth.
Experts say that doing this would require the entire economy to shift. This is because coin-based businesses such as laundrymats and vending machines would need to spend billions of dollars to update their systems and hardware to accommodate for the change.
It’s also possible that using other metals to create coins such as steel would make it easier for con artists to counterfeit them.
4. Most Lottery Winners Spend All of Their Money When They’re Too Generous
You might be surprised to know that the biggest reason why people who win the lottery might lose all their money is that they spend it on family and friends who they care about.
This is why you do win the lottery, you should have a plan in place before you start spending your money. It’s a good idea to hire a financial advisor and a lawyer who can help you to manage your finances. It’s always a smart decision to put the majority of your money in savings.
You can still buy gifts for those you care about, but it’s a good idea to know how to wisely spend your money. You should also know that most people who win the lottery are able to save their money responsibly. This is why lottery winners often have important money tips that they’re happy to share.
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5. Most Bills Only Last Several Years
The vast majority of the money that’s printed won’t last more than six or seven years. Most new money is printed to replace old bills that have worn out from use or to replace money that’s lost when people spend it in other parts of the world.
Even though the Bureau of Engraving and Printing prints all bills on the same material, bills of larger denominations last much longer than smaller bills. This is because one and five-dollar bills change hands more frequently than larger bills do.
A typical one-dollar bill lasts about five years, and most one hundred dollar bills will stay in circulation for more than ten years.
Since the early 2000s, paper money has been less important to people than it used to be. Most people prefer to do transactions with their debit cards or by using online applications such as PayPal. This means that a dollar bill typically lasts longer than it used to.
There Are Many Fun Facts About Money to Know About
Since currencies have played such an important part in the development of human civilizations, there are many fun facts about money. Several of the most interesting facts are that people have been minting coins for more than twenty-five hundred years and that coins are worth less than it costs to create them.
If you want to learn more fun and interesting facts about things that people use every day, don’t forget to check out the Entertainment section of our website. Here we publish many articles on this subject.
