{"id":358788,"date":"2020-08-27T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-08-27T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/?p=358788"},"modified":"2020-09-01T15:40:37","modified_gmt":"2020-09-01T21:40:37","slug":"money-facts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.creditrepair.com\/blog\/finance\/money-facts\/","title":{"rendered":"The History of Money for Kids"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Disclosure regarding our editorial content standards.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You probably know about money. Maybe you have a piggy bank full of coins or a stack of paper money saved from birthday cards. But the history of money and how we use it today is more complex than you might realize! Check out this history of money for kids to learn more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why Do We Have Money?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A long time ago, people didn\u2019t have or use money. Instead, they traded stuff with each other. Someone who had chickens might trade eggs with other people to get things they needed, such as fabric for making clothing. This is a system known as \u201cbarter.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But barter\u2014the exchange of goods to help everyone get different things\u2014doesn\u2019t always work well. It can be time consuming to trade items around until everyone has what they need, and it\u2019s not always physically easy. Some items are easier to carry, store and trade than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, people discovered that it would be easier to trade something in place<\/em> of the actual stuff. They invented money, which was made of something easy to carry. The money had a certain agreed-upon value and could be traded for items of worth such as food, clothes or tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Was Money Invented?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The idea of money dates back centuries. Very early on, and in many cultures around the world, money was made of whatever might be available. For example, the Mayans and Aztecs used the cocoa bean<\/a> as currency. (\u201cCurrency\u201d is another word for money.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coins<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The first official coins were made around 600 B.C. in Ancient Greece<\/a>. Before that, money typically took the form of objects such as shells, grains or beads. Other areas began to make their own versions of coins, which often had images on them that were a point of local pride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, coins became associated with nations and governments. For example, the Romans minted coins with images of its emperors. (\u201cTo mint\u201d means to make coins.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paper Money<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The Chinese may have been the first to create paper money<\/a>. In the 7th century A.D., merchants in China started to use money to represent how much copper coin money they had. They would deposit the coins with other merchants, and those merchants would give them a paper certificate for the amount of coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The paper was easier to carry when people were traveling or making large payments to others. People with the paper could then collect the coin if desired. This system lasted around 200 years. A copper shortage and other issues caused the Chinese people to switch to paper money that was based on gold at that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paper money hasn\u2019t always been made of paper.<\/em> It\u2019s been made of a variety of materials, including different types of cloth and leather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money in America<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The history of money in America is as long as the history of America itself. Prior to the Declaration of Independence, the American colonists used various forms of money, typically British in nature. But in 1776, the Continental Congress of the United States approved the issue of $2 notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those $2 notes were called Continentals<\/a> and were the first official paper money of the United States. They\u2019re actually older than the country because the Continental Congress approved them days before it declared independence and more than a month before the Declaration of Independence was signed by all the members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loose Change and Banknotes<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Today, we still use banknotes\u2014that\u2019s paper money\u2014and coins. Common denominations include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n