Money is the sweet paper that makes humans fight century-long wars and lead imperialist agendas around the globe. The world changed and money became the greatest driving force for crime, invention, motivation, and happiness ever since people discovered they could exchange it for goods and services.
Even though it has become the most important aspect of humanity, there are many weird facts people don’t know about money. Today, we will go through 8 cool and crazy fun facts about money. So, drop your wallets, count your coins, and let’s begin.
Key Takeaways
- Money has become an integral part of the world as it governs the flow of goods and services.
- Many secrets about it need to be learned to understand how it works.
Flash Facts
| Current Wealthiest Man | Elon Musk (240 Billion USD) |
| Current Wealthiest Country | United States of America (29 Trillion USD) |
| Wealthiest Man of All Time | Mansa Musa (Over 400 Billion USD) |
| Wealthiest Company | Apple (3.4 Trillion USD) |
1. Most Currencies’ Values Depend on Trust
Do you live in a country with a terrible currency? Have you always dreamed of a world where the spending notes you use have the same or even greater strength than the giants like the pound sterling, US dollar, Euro, and the Kuwaiti dinar? What if we told you that the thing holding your country’s currency is its people?
Though it might be an oversimplification of economic concepts (yes economists, we admit to that, so spare us from your rage), most currencies in the world are strong because of their people’s faith in them. Fiat currencies became a trend after World War II, and countries’ currencies began relying on people’s trust.
Yes, even the United States dollar relies on Americans’ trust. You may ask yourself, what if everyone in my country grows intense faith in the currency, would that make it the strongest? The answer to that is complicated.
Though your country’s money can fall due to people’s lack of faith, it can’t just rise if people use the power of friendship. To grow trust in a currency, a country has to improve its economy and citizens’ lives.
The better the prospects for advancement of a nation, the more investment will come, and the more people’s faith in the currency grows; this will improve the value of a country’s money.
2. Is Money The Root Of Evil?
People argue over the idea that money is the root of all evil, and we will try to answer this question today.
When we refer to evil, we talk about things like crime and wars, and for the most part, mental illnesses, socioeconomic disadvantages, and choice motivate most crimes; these major motivations stem from the lack of wealth.
In the United States, most incarcerations are drug-related, meaning most people were arrested for selling or buying drugs.
No one sells drugs unless they want something; can you guess? Money. Also, people who are drug addicts are those in poorer environments and situations. So, we could say they are trying to escape the lack of money.
The major reasons countries and groups fight wars include gaining more resources, economic inequality, ideology, and religion. Beneath these motivations, an elusive mechanism stands out: money. Most wars are waged solely to get more money. So, is it the root of all evil?
Comment below to let us know.
3. The History of Money
Even though money is among the tools driving innovation worldwide, most people don’t know its history.
There is no specific inventor of money. Historians attribute its creation to Mesopotamia (the same people responsible for the wheel, writing, and irrigation).
The first use of commodity money is attributed to the Mesopotamian Shekel, which relied on the mass of barley grains. Alongside the Mesopotamians, the Sumerians and Egyptians used silver and gold ingots.
Around 330 BC, coins featured Alexander The Great’s face; this became the first time a person’s face got stamped on a currency. Since then, many nations like the Roman Empire, started using public figures in their currencies.
The Chinese invented paper money as the Tang and Song dynasties developed and created the first banknotes in the 7th and 11th centuries.
Though paper currencies gained popularity, many countries’ currencies relied on the value of precious metals like gold and silver. That changed after World War II and the Bretton Woods Conference, where most countries transitioned to Fiat currencies.
With the rise of fiat money, many countries grew their economies while others couldn’t compete due to the power of the US dollar standard.
In 2009, an invention called Bitcoin altered people’s ideas about money.
Bitcoin is a type of currency built inside computer systems. It does not rely on central banks and is untraceable. As Bitcoin gained popularity, its value soared; this led to the rise of cryptocurrencies.
4. The Man With The Most Money
When we hear wealthy, we think of billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg. Though these men are rich, their worth is tied to company shares that can’t be sold.
There was a man who lived and was not restricted by measly issues like shares; this is the tale of the great Mansa Musa of the Mali empire.
Mansa ruled Mali from 1312 to 1337, and during that time, he was so wealthy people could not fathom his money.
As Mali controlled most of the world’s gold, Mansa had authority over most of the wealth generated by the empire.
On his trip to Mecca, Mansa stopped at Cairo and gave so much gold to the common folk that the economy fell.
His estimated net worth is over 400 billion US dollars.
Weird Money Facts
Now that you have learned some interesting facts about money, it’s time to dive into the weird and mind-blowing money facts that will make you scream in disbelief.
5. US dollar notes can fold about 4000 times before they lose structural integrity because of their 25% linen and 75% cotton composition.
6. It’s possible to know real from fake notes by the fires they emit. Original US dollar notes emit a greenish-yellow flame when they burn. Counterfeits may emit other colors. Though you may want to try this, know that burning money is illegal in most countries, including the United States.
7. Though this may not shock you, it’s cool to know that most paper money isn’t paper. Many countries that use paper-like notes blend cotton and linen. Other countries use polymer-based notes, and the reason for all these is to ensure they are durable.
8. Producing coins is so expensive that the United States government lost about $110 million in 2022 from minting.
Conclusion
That’s all we have for today, we hope you enjoyed reading our 8 interesting facts about money. You can check our 15 China Facts and search through Our Fact Database.
