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Sunday, April 15, 2007

Interesting Tidbits About Money

They say money makes the world go around and it is pretty hard to argue otherwise. Here are some interesting tidbits about money that you might not know.

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.

Winston Goldstein is with MoneyMakerstop.com - your source for advice and information on money.
This article is free for republishing
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_126529_63.html
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