Fun Money Facts

How many ridges does the quarter have?
How long does a $50 bill last?
How many times can I fold a dollar bill before it tears?

We use money every single day. Money allows us to eat, live comfortably in a home, buy clothes, purchase cars and much more. While money can purchase fascinating tangible objects, money in itself is quite fascinating. Please enjoy the fun money facts I have included in this posting, and the great websites you can use in your classrooms to show kids how money is made.

• Cattle is the oldest of all forms of money. Cattle as money dates back to 9000 B.C. Some cattle were still used as money in parts of Africa in the middle of the 20th century.
• The Massachusetts Bay Colony issued the first paper money in America in 1690. The colonies would later form the United States.
• Parker Brothers printed more money for its Monopoly games than the Federal Reserve has issued in real money for the United States. If you stacked up all the Monopoly sets made, the pile would be more than 1,100 miles high.
• There is about $823 in circulation for each person in America.
• A piece of currency can be folded forward and back 4,000 times before it will tear.
• Currency is made of 25 percent linen and 75 percent cotton paper. Red and blue synthetic fibers of various lengths are distributed evenly throughout the paper.
• A mile of pennies laid out is $844.80. By this standard, America is about $2.5 million wide, coast to coast.
• A quarter has 119 grooves around the edge.
• If you have three quarters, four dimes and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins possible without being able to make change for a dollar.
• The Federal Reserve System lists the following life spans:
  $ 1 lasts 22 months
  $ 5 lasts 2 years
  $ 10 lasts 3 years
  $ 20 lasts 4 years
  $ 50 lasts 9 years
  $100 lasts 9 years

PBS-Check out this fun site which shares the fun secrets about making money

The Bureau of Printing and Engraving- Enjoy the resources and lesson plans on how money is made

Teaching your children the value of money-This how-to approach goes over the basics on how to teach children the value of money and why it is important to save

Work Cited:

http://www.childrensmuseum.org/special_exhibits/moneyville/pop5.htm

http://www.treas.gov/kids/