Money & Finance Facts for Kids
Surprising facts about money, coins, and wealth
The world's first coins were made in ancient Lydia (modern-day Turkey) around 600 BC, made from a natural gold-silver alloy called electrum.
A US dollar bill lasts an average of just 6.6 years in circulation before it wears out and is replaced.
Sweden was the first country in Europe to issue paper banknotes, in 1661 β China had paper money centuries earlier, but Europe's first came from Stockholm's Banco.
In the United States, pennies cost more to make than they are worth β it costs about 3.69 cents to produce a 1-cent coin, according to the US Mint's 2024 figures.
The word "salary" comes from the Latin word for salt β "salarium" β because Roman soldiers were sometimes paid partly in salt.
Cowrie shells were used as money in parts of Africa and Asia for thousands of years β they are one of the oldest forms of currency.
The first credit card was introduced in 1950 by Diners Club β it could only be used at 27 restaurants in New York City.
The largest denomination banknote ever issued for circulation was Hungary's 100 quintillion pengΕ note in 1946, during the worst hyperinflation in recorded history.
The first ATM was installed in 1967 outside a Barclays Bank in Enfield, London β it dispensed a maximum of Β£10 at a time and used special radioactive tokens to identify customers.
Native American tribes used wampum beads β made from shells β as currency, and early European colonists adopted them too.