Millennium Icons

Millennium Icon: Money

Lydia -- a country we now call Turkey -- apparently was first to use coins during the 600s B.C. Traders accepted lumps of gold mixed with silver instead of cattle or other unwieldy mediums of exchange.

Historians believe that coins were independently invented in China and India at the same time. Ancient money was approved by government and stamped with a certain value. Sound familiar? Today, it's hard to imagine life without money.

50
Trading for Coins
Traders landing in Ethiopia use Roman coins to buy local goods. Coastal African nations use coins sooner than land-locked nations because early traders did not venture deep into the continent.

600s
China Develops Paper Money
That's because China does not have a good supply of the metals needed to make coins. The government guarantees the value printed on each paper note.

Late 1000s
Power Play
When Christian Crusaders conquer kingdoms in what are now Israel, Jordan and Lebanon, the coins look like Islamic coins of Egypt. The pope protests and makes the Crusaders put Christian symbols on the currency.

1200s
Funny Money
Marco Polo, an Italian trader visiting China, is surprised to see Chinese people trading paper money instead of coins. He brings the idea back to Europe in 1295, but his compatriots don't buy into it for 3 1/2 more centuries. They think paper money has no value.

1300s
Banca of Italy
Italy opens the first commercial bank. The Italian word "banca" originally means a bench where money is laid out.

1492
Sharing the Wealth
Spanish explorer Christopher Columbus discovers America. Six years later, the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sails around Africa to India. These two events lead to the issue of European-style coins to the Americas, Africa and Asia.

1500s
World Awash in Money
New sea routes enable long ocean voyages and trade between nations. Spanish conquerors in the Americas seize large amounts of gold and silver. They mine them and make coins. Spain becomes a rich and powerful country. The Spanish dollar remains the most widely used coin in the world until 1850.

European traders introduce round, silver dollars to China and Japan. The Chinese word for round is "yuan." In Japanese, it's "yen." That's why the monetary units in China and Japan are called yuan and yen.

Copper rings resembling bracelets are used as currency in West Africa. They are used in Nigeria until 1948.

1518
Coining the Dollar
A coin minted in the town of Joachimsthal in Bohemia (western Czechoslovakia) becomes known as the Joachimsthaler. The name gets shortened to thaler and is pronounced in English as dollar. The word is adopted by many countries.

Pop Quiz!
Question: What is the origin of the $ sign?
Answer: Shorthand for "Spanish pesos"

A commonly accepted explanation is that the $ sign is an evolution of the Mexican or Spanish "P's" for monetary units known as pesos, piastres or pieces of eight. The "S" gradually came to be written over the "P," so that it resembled something akin to today's $ sign. The $ sign was in use before the U.S. dollar was created.

1644
Worth Its Weight
Sweden mints plate money, the largest coins ever circulated. The 10 daler plate weighs 43 pounds. The country continues circulating this money until 1809.

1650s
Anything Goes
French, English, Dutch and Spaniards establish colonies in the New World. Their money circulates freely throughout the colonies. Native Americans use corn, tobacco, fish and wheat. Their decorative belts and necklaces, called wampum, are stitched together with shell beads and are considered currency by all settlers.

In 1652, a silver coin called the pine tree shilling is minted in Boston. It is the first coin made in colonial America. One side of the coin has a pine tree stamped on it.

1661
Lightening the Load
Sweden is the first European country to print paper money. It resorts to this option because of a coin shortage.

Soon other places in Europe begin to issue paper bills, called bank notes. These notes could be exchanged for coins. Most paper bills in circulation are notes issued by banks or private companies rather than governments.

1685
Good as Gold
French colonies in Canada use paper money that resembles playing cards. There are four suits.

Late 1600s
Root of Evil
For hundreds of years, people clip, shave and trim pieces from gold and silver coins. They shake the coins furiously in bags to collect valuable dust. By the late 1600s, in London, the clipping of coins is an executable crime.

1783
Money Pit
After winning the U.S. Revolutionary War, all the colonies make their own paper money and coins. Trading gets confusing with all the different types of colonial and foreign money.

1787
Taking Care of Business
The U.S. Continental Congress establishes a single, official currency for the colonies. The first coin is minted in New Haven, Conn. It is a copper cent.

Pop Quiz!
Question: What words appear on the first official copper cent?
Answer: Mind your business

One side of this new coin was minted with the words "United States" and "We Are One." There are 13 circles linked decoratively around the coin, representing the colonies. The other side was stamped "Mind Your Business" and dated 1787.

1789
Dollar Rules
U.S. Congress agrees on a monetary system. The dollar is the basic unit.

1792
Money Makers
U.S. Congress passes the Coinage Act, which sets up the first national money system in the United States. Four basic coins are to be issued: gold eagles, silver dollars, dimes and copper cents.

The first federal mint opens in Philadelphia to make gold and silver coins. This mint makes all U.S. coins until 1838. A host of other mints are opened and closed in various U.S. cities in ensuing years. In 1999, U.S. Mint facilities include the Washington headquarters and mints in Philadelphia, Denver, San Francisco and West Point, N.Y.

New York Stock Exchange is born on Wall Street in New York City.

Pop Quiz!
Question: True or False? The words "In God We Trust" appear on every U.S. coin.
Answer: True

The motto first appeared on a two-cent coin in 1864. In ensuing years, "In God We Trust" appeared -- on and off -- on the nickel, quarter, half-dollar and silver dollar. By the time it reappeared on the nickel in 1938, all U.S. coins were marked with the motto.

In 1957, "In God We Trust" became a part of the design of U.S. paper money. Use of this motto has been challenged many times, but U.S. courts have consistently upheld it.

1837
Victorian Age
An 18-year-old girl named Victoria becomes queen of the British Empire. She reigns for 63 years until 1901. During this time, the British Empire includes a quarter of the world's land. Money pours into Britain from its colonies. Continuing a tradition of coin portraiture started in ancient times, Queen Victoria's profile graces British money.

1860s
Origin of Greenbacks
U.S. government issues $430 million in paper money to help finance the Civil War. The backs are printed in green. Money is called legal tender notes, because the government says people must accept it in payment of debts. The value of the dollar fluctuates depending on the people's confidence in government.

Pop Quiz!
Question: How many times could you fold a piece of paper currency in half before it would tear?
Answer: 8,000 folds

That's 4,000 double folds -- first forward, then backward -- for a total of 8,000 folds. Here is the average life span of U.S. paper currency:
$1: 18 months
$5: 2 years
$10: 3 years
$20: 4 years
$50: 9 years
$100: 9 years

1900
Going, Going, Gone
U.S. Congress passes the Gold Standard Act. The gold standard defines the basic monetary unit as worth a certain quantity of gold, and the system agrees to redeem its money in gold on demand. Eventually, gold plays an increasingly smaller role in world monetary systems. The gold standard is abandoned by the United States in 1971.

Pop Quiz!
Question: The words "E Pluribus Unum" appear on the back of each U.S. coin. What does it mean?
Answer: Out of many, one

"E Pluribus Unum" is Latin. This motto refers to the creation of the United States from the original 13 colonies.

1913
Here Come the Feds
Federal Reserve Act reconstructs U.S. banking and currency system by creating federal banks.

1920s
Double Dipping
Ethiopia is still using bars of rock salt for both cooking and money. The bar is wrapped lengthwise with a reed to prevent breakage.

1923
Big Dipper
Hyperinflation in Germany results in a German note with a value of 1 billion marks. It is worth less than $5 in 1993 dollars.

1929
Great Depression
The U.S. stock market crashes on Oct. 29. Thousands of stockholders lose huge sums of money or are wiped out. The value of the dollar falls. By 1931, 4,000 U.S. banks close.

1936
Good as Gold
Fort Knox becomes the site of the U.S. Gold Bullion Depository. Gold deposits are held in underground concrete and steel vaults inside a bomb-proof building. The Depository is a classified facility. No visitors are permitted. No exceptions.

1999
Power Printing
The U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing produces 38 million notes a day with a face value of about $541 million. About 95 percent of the notes printed in recent years are used to replace notes already in circulation. About 48 percent of the notes printed are $1 notes.

Pop Quiz!
Question: Which of the following statements is true about U.S. paper money?

A. A stack of currency 1 mile high would contain more than 14 1/2 million notes.
B. If you had 10 billion $1 notes and spent one every second of every day, it would take 317 years for you to go broke.
C. It is composed of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton.

Answer: All of the above

Here are other fun facts supplied by the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing:

Red and blue synthetic fibers of various lengths are distributed evenly throughout U.S. paper money. Before World War I, the fibers were made of silk.

Current U.S. paper money measures 2.61 inches wide by 6.14 inches long, and the thickness is .0043 inches. If each currency note printed was laid end to end, they would stretch around the Earth's equator about 24 times. Larger sized notes in circulation before 1919 measured 3.125 inches by 7.4218 inches.

Contrary to popular belief, the automobile pictured on the back of the $10 note is not a Model T Ford. It is merely a creation of the designer of the bill.

The hands of the clock in the steeple of Independence Hall on the reverse of the $100 Federal Reserve Note are set at approximately 4:10.

Martha Washington is the only woman whose portrait has appeared on a U.S. currency note -- on the face of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1886 and 1891, and on the back of the $1 Silver Certificate of 1896.

Five African-American men have had their signatures on U.S. currency: Blanche K. Bruce, Judson W. Lyons, William T. Vernon and James C. Napier. These men served as Registers of the Treasury.

Future of Money
Paper Currency: The U.S. $10 and $5 bills -- like the larger denominations -- will be redesigned in 2000 to make them easier to read and harder to counterfeit. Changes to the $1 bill are still being decided. Apparently, the color-changing inks that make the $50 bill more secure might be too expensive for $1 bills.

The United States will redesign its cash much more often to stay ahead of high-tech counterfeiters. At some point, cash may be made of plastic or even more advanced polymer materials.
Coins: A $1 coin makes its debut in 2000. It is gold in color (but made of cheaper alloys), about the size of a quarter, with a smooth edge so it can be distinguished by people who can't see well.

The U.S. Mint is honoring five states each year for the next 10 years by putting new designs on the back of U.S. quarters. It'll be in the order in which the states joined the Union. After 10 years, quarters will go back to the eagle design.
ATMs: Someday you may walk up to an ATM without even carrying a card. You may be able to get cash by pressing a finger on a fingerprint-scanning pad or looking into a device that scans the retina of your eye.
Smart Cards: They look like credit cards, but the magnetic stripe on the back is replaced by an embedded computer chip that holds 90 times more information. You can program it with your medical information for insurance purposes at your doctor's office. Program it to ask for a vegetarian meal or a seat over the wing when you buy airline tickets. Your PC will have a card slot in its keyboard. Insert your smart card to make online purchases.

Related Links
Editor's note: These links will take you to Web sites with content we do not control or endorse.

How Money Developed
http://www.ex.ac.uk/~RDavies/arian/amser/chrono.html
Timeline from 9000 B.C. to 2002, from A Comparative Chronology of Money by Roy Davies & Glyn Davies

U.S. Money Fundamentals
http://www.frbatlanta.org/publica/brochure/fundfac/money.htm
If you haven't looked at the money in your pocket lately, there's a lot to learn, from Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta

U.S. Paper Money Fun Facts
http://www.bep.treas.gov/facts.htm
Test your I.Q. about U.S. bills, from U.S. Bureau of Engraving & Printing

U.S. Coins Fun Facts
http://www.usmint.gov/facts/fun_facts.cfm
Test your I.Q. about U.S. coins, from U.S. Mint

An Interactive $1 Bill
http://www.ronscurrency.com/
Click on various elements of a $1 bill to see what the symbols mean, from Ron's Currency, Stocks & Bonds

Sources
World Book; "The Story of Money," by Betsy Maestro; "Money," by Joe Cribb; "The Book of Money," by Klaus Heidensohn; The Miami Herald/KRT; "Coins & Currency," by Brenda Ralph Lewis; Fortune; U.S. Mint; U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing; The Bibliotheque Nationale de France; Coin and Currency Collections, University of Notre Dame Libraries

Credits
Producer: Lily Chin/KRT
Designer: Ron Coddington/KRT

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