INTERESTING FACTS ON MONEY

1.Before money was made of bills and coins, these items were used as currency: conch shells,
ivory, clay, live animals and grain. As long as it was divisible and scarce, it could be deemed
"money".

2. The name money comes from Middle English: from Old French "moneie", from Latin
"moneta", "mint" or "money", originally a title of the goddess Juno, in whose temple in Rome
money was minted.

3.The first banks were likely religious temples because the security was always tight.

4. The first records of loans, deposits, currency validation and exchange were recorded in the
18th Century BC in Babylon (or, Ancient Greece)

5. Pythius, a merchant banker from Asia Minor in 5th century B.C. was the first banker on
record. He offered to give 4 million gold coins to Persian King Xerxes for his war expenses –
Xerxes declined and gave him 7,000 coins for his offer instead.

6. The term "check" or "cheque" is derived from the game of chess. Putting the king in check
means his choices are limited, just like a modern day cheque that limits opportunities for
forgery and alteration.

7. The Knights Templar between 1118 and 1307 used a cheque system to provide their
pilgrims with travel funds. They worked much like travellers cheques now.

8.The term "bankrupt" is taken from two words… bancus meaning bench in Latin on which
bankers used to ply their trade in the marketplace and ruptus meaning broken – once the
banker could no longer trade, the bancus would be broken to signify the banker is out of
business.

9. The original two currencies of America was the Sterling Pound and the Spanish Dollar. In
fact, the first type of U.S. currency to ever be issued was a mere $2,000,000. It was issued in
1775 by the Continental Congress. Every new issue of this currency steadily devalued it
against the Sterling Pound, and the Spanish Dollar.

10.The $ symbol is derived from the Spanish dollar sign. In 1782, the US considered
choosing the Spanish peso as the country’s currency. The abbreviation for the Spanish peso
(PS) later transformed into a $.