10 Bizarre Facts You Never Knew About Money

Money makes the world go ’round. At least that seems to be the motto for most people today. Money makes it possible for people to buy food and clothing, pay for shelter and transportation, and pretty much anything to do with life today involves money in some form. Money has been around in some way or another for a very long time. People used to use stones or seashells to trade, and then coins were introduced as a form of currency. As often as money is used in today’s society, there are still a lot of things that most people do not know about it. This list is a compilation of ten different facts about money and currency that most people are unaware of.

Monopoly

Did you know that each year, more Monopoly money is printed than real money.

Counterfeit Money

Counterfeit money is printed all the time, but most people don’t know that North Korea is the biggest printer of counterfeit U.S. money.

Paper Vs. Coin

If the U.S. government switched their one dollar currency from bills to coins, it would save them almost $4.5 billion over the next 30 years.

True Wealth

If you have $10 in your wallet and no debt, you are wealthier than 25% of Americans.

First Paper Money

China actually created the first form of paper money, about 1,400 years ago.

Tea Bricks

Tea bricks were used as currency in Siberia and some parts of Asia up until World War II.

Where It Is

Most people are unaware that 66% of all U.S. cash is actually held overseas by foreign governments and officials.

Spreading Bacteria

The flu virus can remain active on a dollar bill for up to two weeks!

Traces Of What?

There’s always that little joke that any money you have was probably in a stripper’s panties at some point, but what you don’t know is that 90% of U.S. money has traces of cocaine on it. As bad as that is, 94% of tested U.S. money had traces of fecal matter on it.

U.S. Money

U.S. money isn’t actually paper – it’s technically cloth. In fact, people used to use needle and thread to repair it when it was torn.