A HISTORY OF THE GREEN STUFF

Money and How It’s Changed Over the Years

By Luke Crowther

Tech Consultant: Theodore Crowther

What Is Money?

Do you have any idea of what money is? Money is something that will always be accepted as payment for goods or services, and repayment of debts (Debt = you owe money).

Before Money

How did people pay for things before money? I’ll tell you how. They bartered. Bartering is a system people used before money to get what they wanted. Bartering wasn’t easy because you had to find someone who either wanted or needed something you could offer, in exchange for something that you wanted or needed that they could offer.

The First Type of Money

What was the first type of money? The first type of money was created by the Lydians, who lived in what is now Turkey. The money was invented by the Lydian king Alyattes, and the coins were made from electrum (a natural mixture of silver and gold). Due to this, Lydia became quite advanced at the development of currency.

Money Changes

Just when it looked like Lydia was taking the lead in currency developments, the Chinese switched from coins to paper money. And where American bills say in God we trust it said: All counterfeiters will be decapitated (decapitated=had their head cut off).

More Money Changes

Europeans used coins all the way up to 1600. Acquisitions of precious metals from colonies kept Europeans minting more and more cash.

Eventually, banks started issuing notes instead of coins. The paper notes could be traded in for silver or gold coins any old time. Notes became paper money. The money was different from ours, though, because it wasn’t issued by any government. It was issued by the bank.

Money in the U.S.

The first paper money ever issued by European government was issued here, in European colonies. Paper money really took off!

Do you know that after the Revolutionary war each state used to have their own type of money? Well, they did! Our state had different money from New York, and so on.

During the Civil War, the U.S. government made money with green ink because it was cheaper than black/white. The USA still has money like that. Can you believe it?!