55 Interesting Facts About Money - Know the past and present!

Here is the list of interesting facts about money. You might be knowing some of them, but the rest will surprise you!

The pound sterling is the world’s oldest currency still in use (introduced in the eighth century).
The motto on the first US coin was “Mind Your Business” (This wise piece of advice featured on the first one-cent ‘Fugio’ coin designed by Benjamin Franklin in 1787)
The famous “In God We Trust” motto didn’t appear on American coins until 1864.
Only 8% of the world’s currency is in cash (the vast majority of the planet’s currency exists in electronic form).
The top 1% wealthiest people in the world have 50% of the world’s wealth
World debt reached a record $281 trillion at end of 2020, more than 355% of global GDP (IIF)
No trees are cut down to make our banknotes
Star Wars, Pokémon, and Frozen coins are legal tenders on the island of Niue
The new English £5 note can play vinyl records
A $1 bill lasts just 18 months in circulation
In India, the currency has existed in the form of coins since the 6th century BC.
Indian Rupee note has Braille signs to help visually impaired people.
In India, except for one rupee note and coins, everything else is printed by the RBI.
INR at the time of independence was ₹1 = $1
The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing uses 9.7 tons of ink a day
The average European banknote is home to 26,000 colonies of bacteria (a recent Oxford University study)
Queen Elizabeth II features on the most coins and banknotes (featured on the currencies of more than 30 countries)
Living people are banned from appearing on US coins or banknotes
There is approximately US $37 trillion in circulation: this includes all the physical money and the money deposited in savings and checking accounts.
The world’s least valuable coin, Uzbekistan’s tiyin is worth next to nothing (worth around 2,400 times less than a US one-cent coin)
Money is made in factories called mints.
Two-thirds of all US$100 bills are held outside the US.
There are more than 3.5 million ATMs in the world.
The United States officially adopted the dollar as its unit of currency in 1785.
The U.S. dollar is the most commonly used currency in the world.
The Romans were the first to stamp the image of a living person on a coin.
The first paper money was made in China over 1,000 years ago.
More Monopoly (game) money is printed each year than actual money.
Some countries share a currency (countries in Europe, all use the Euro).
In 1920, credit cards were first used in the United States.
In The United States, the largest bill ever printed was a $100,000 gold certificate issued in 1934.
The International Space Station is the world’s most expensive object ever built at US$150 billion.
The first Bitcoin transaction was to buy a pizza for 10,000 Bitcoins.
Tea bricks were used as money in Siberia until WW2.
Over 170 different currencies are used around the world today.
One of the most expensive coins in the world is the 1913 Liberty Head nickel (five-cent coin).
McDonald’s makes about US$75 million per day.
Early Romans used salt as a form of money. Even the word “salary” is derived from sal, which means “salt” in Latin.
There are three ways by which Governments can get money: 1) print it, 2) borrow it, or 3) collect taxes from their citizens.
Abraham Lincoln was the first American pictured on an American coin in 1909.
Apple earns US$300,000 per minute.
Total U.S. consumer debt is at $14.9 trillion (includes mortgages, auto loans, credit cards, and student loans).
The national debt of India amounted to around $2.41 trillion (2020)
37% of all households carry some sort of credit card debt in the United States.
1 in 5 Americans has a zero or negative net worth.
Gambling in the U.S. brings in more revenue than theme parks, sporting events, cruise ships, and music combined.
The average American pays more than $600,000 in interest over their lifetime.
12% of the money taken home by the average American family is spent on interest.
North Korea is the largest counterfeiter.
The secret service was originally made to fight counterfeiting in the United States.
Before the Federal Reserve in 1913, each bank printed its own money in the United States.
A penny costs more to manufacture than it is worth.
More than half of lottery tickets sold are bought by 5% of people.
Women who wait to marry earn more.
If you have $10 in your pocket and you have no debt, you are wealthier than 25% of Americans.