Money is not just colorful pieces of paper. It sometimes has almost magical power, influencing human beings both positively and negatively. It is impossible to imagine modern society without money, as it is an integral part of economic processes.
For more than one thousand years, finance has been the backbone of the entire world economy. It is not hard to guess that over its long history, money has undergone many significant and surprising changes. And many of them really deserve your attention. And then you will just learn some especially interesting facts about money, which everyone should familiarize themselves with.
However, there are some less obvious things that you might not know about money. We have collected the most interesting ones of them.
- 1. Paper money appeared in China
- 5. The largest banknote contains a denomination of 100 thousand dollars
- 6. Alexander the Great was the first to mint his profile on coins
- 7. For the first time, Julius Caesar ordered his name to be minted on a coin
- 8. The ATM first appeared in America
- 9. You can become a millionaire in no time
1. Paper money appeared in China
Any schoolchild knows that the Chinese invented the process of making paper. But, in addition, they also invented the printing of banknotes on it. Lighter in weight than classic coins, they are much more comfortable to use.
Paper money first appeared in circulation in 812
They made life much easier for merchants transporting goods and money over long distances.
Printing paper money began during the reign of the Chinese Song dynasty. Caring for the merchants, of course, was not a top priority. First of all, the emperor longed to save expensive metal out of the issue of coins. The the emperor used freed up resources for other important affairs of the Empire.
Nowadays, it is hardly possible to imagine a world without paper money
In addition, it would be all the more pointless to carry a bunch of heavy coins with you.
2. Did you know that the word “bank” known to everyone today has the original translation as a table? The thing is that this term appeared in Italy, the word “banco” means a shop or a table and in the language of this country. However, the first bankers of the world performed their financial operations at ordinary wooden tables on the market.
3. The oldest bank in the world in its modern form appeared in 1472 in the same Italy. It got a name of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena. In addition, not only the ancient building, in which this organization worked, but also the bank itself under the same name, which is actively functioning today, has survived to this day.
4. The coin got its name from the title of the Roman goddess Juno. The word “Coin” has a translation from Latin as “keeper”. There were workshops near the temple of the goddess for melting metal money, which finally got the name as coins.
5. The largest banknote contains a denomination of 100 thousand dollars
In 1934, the five-zero banknote was indeed issued in a limited edition in the United States. But it never reached ordinary Americans. Such a bill was used exclusively for settlements between banking institutions and to pay for large transactions with state participation.
There was Woodrow Wilson on one side of this bill. That is the 28th President of the United States, who participated in the signing of the Versailles Treaty and approved the set of rules of the League of Nations. It was through his efforts that the Federal Reserve System (US FRS) appeared.
6. Alexander the Great was the first to mint his profile on coins
It was this brilliant warrior and strategist who first became famous as the most successful conqueror sovereign. A disciple of Aristotle, he was both wise and very far-sighted. His military exploits became known far beyond the borders of the country.
In addition, he was the first of the rulers to order his profile to remain forever on coins. Such coins were in circulation over a fairly large area from North Africa to Macedonia.
Some of the symbols that he introduced into wide circulation are still on banknotes. Now money has portraits of prominent political figures on it. However, collectors prefer coins because of their original appearance.
7. For the first time, Julius Caesar ordered his name to be minted on a coin
The famous Roman emperor became the first person whose name began to adorn banknotes. Not only coins had the word “Caesar” on them, but there also was the image of an elephant – the personal symbol of the emperor.
In those days, Rome won the glory of a great empire, and almost everyone considered Caesar as a living god. Many sights and things remained in his memory, one of which is such a coin.
8. The ATM first appeared in America
In 1939, Americans invented a prototype of the modern ATM
Nevertheless, it accepted special financial vouchers, since no one had invented plastic cards yet.
Today, banks have installed more than two million modern ATMs in the world. You can not only withdraw the required amount with the help of them, but also deposit money into a card account. Back in 1939, this could be only a dream. In modern reality, this is the fastest way to withdraw or put money on the card.
ATMs are now everywhere: at airports, shopping centers, bank branches and many other places. You can even find an ATM at the North Pole.
9. You can become a millionaire in no time
Surely many of today’s people would like to become millionaires as fast as possible
This goal is more than achievable. So, for just $ 4, you can buy as much as 10,000,000 zimbabwean dollars! However, their purchasing power is unlikely to please you much.
10. The well-known dollar sign – $ – existed long before its appearance in the United States. You would be surprised but it appeared first on Mexican pesos. Later, these pesos circulated in the United States, while the States began to print their own money. The dollar sign came from the merger of the letters P and S.
11. Until the 18th century, money had not had division into pennies or cents. This happened for the first time in Russia, which had decimalization in 1704: the ruble had a division into 100 kopecks.
12. It is noteworthy that until 1964, in many African countries, instead of traditional finance, just like many centuries ago, people continued to use livestock, shiny stones and shells.
13. The most expensive coin in the world is a collectible dollar with a name of”Loose Hair”, which appeared in 1794 in the United States. Its auction value is $ 7,850,000.
14. Curiously, January 8, 1835 is the only day in the entire history of the United States when this country did not have a public debt. Moreover, this despite the fact that the national currency of this state is one of the most stable and popular in the world.
15. The heaviest money is a 999-carat gold coin made in Australia. It weighs exactly 1 ton. Its diameter reaches 80 cm, and its thickness is 12 cm.The face value of the huge coin is $ 1 million, although a coin cut into ingots could be sold for 55 million.
