Money is everywhere. It is the lifeblood of commerce and exchange, and it is at the very core of our social order. We need it to survive, to provide for ourselves and our families to reward ourselves and it is a measure of wealth and worth. There are those of us that live a simple life, self-sufficient enough to be able to get by on very little demand for cash, but for the rest of us it is a driving force, a motivation and a necessity. It is only natural for something that far reaching, that widely utilised and desired to have a few wild characteristics and quirks. Money however has more than a few, and it can be a very strange best at times.
Here is our selection of some of the craziest facts out there about money.
1. The House Always Wins
Next time you head to the casino thinking you can walk back out a rich man, consider this. According to statistics generated by the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, gambling generates more revenue than movies, spectator sports, theme parks, cruise ships and recorded music combined. In the USA alone, gambling is an industry worth more than $40 Billion per year. So next time you think you're smarter than the house, it’s probably smarter to think again.
2. Coins Not Worth Their Weight
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In some countries, it costs more to make a coin, than the value of the coin itself. In the USA this has been the case for the last 8 years in a row. In 2013 the cost of making a penny stood at 1.8 cents, A nickel was 9.4 cents and a dime 4.6 cents, almost twice the face value of the coin itself. This doesn’t just apply to the USA, in Canada the cost of minting a penny is also 1.8 cents.
3. Coins REALLY Not Worth Their Weight
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In 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint produced the world's first million dollar coin. This monster weighs 100 kg, and is composed of 99999 pure gold (99.99% pure). With a face value of $1 million, and an actual value far greater that changes in line with the price of gold, this was officially the largest gold coin on record. Was, being the key word here, because in 2012 the Australians made one bigger.
The Australian mint released a 1 Ton behemoth with a face value of $1million, but as the coin is made of more than $53 million of gold (subject to the gold price fluctuation) this is certainly not one for spending. This is the largest gold coin in the world, for now.
4. Counterfeiting – More Profitable Than Cocaine
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There have been lots of cases of counterfeiting in the last 100 years, the first real villains being the Nazis, who would try to disrupt the Allies war machine through a multi-million pound scheme to fund their effort. In more recent years the biggest players in counterfeiting have emerged from Peru, where counterfeiting US Dollars has become more profitable than producing cocaine. The most dangerous player perhaps though, is North Korea, who for over a decade, have had a government programme of counterfeiting US Dollars, and they are very good at it. So much so that Time magazine once published an article suggesting the USA ditch the $100 note to counter the North Korean fraud.
The North Korean notes are dubbed ‘Super Dollars’ as they are virtually impossible to detect without very sophisticated anti-fraud equipment which is really only in the hands of the Fed. However, Kim Jong may become a little Ill when he sees the new US notes which are supposedly incredibly difficult and costly to fake.
5. The American Dream
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So we all know that it’s the 1% that run things right? That, most of the money in any given country is contained or controlled within this very fine ‘cream’ at the top. Well let’s take a look at the other end of the scale, and it might surprise you that in the USA, the land where there are no poor, only ‘temporarily embarrassed’ millionaires chasing the dream, that over 2 million people live on less than $2 per day. I wonder how many of them voted against Obama Care.
6. German Money – A Plaything For Children
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Following the First World War, inflation hit the German economy and its currency like a wrecking ball. The currency devalued so much that it became more expensive to print and mint than its face value, and this was a time when the gold standard was in place, not our current fiat system. There was a shortfall in official coins and bills due to their poor worth, and the currency was often given to children as a play thing – they really did struggle for toys in these days.
The official currency, being so worthless, was often replaced by Notgeld, which were alternative currencies printed by companies and boroughs that were a more stable currency than real money at the time. The denomination of notes was sometimes given as a certain amount of gold, dollars, corn or meat and the designs ranged from bizarre picturesque scenes, to images of science fiction. Good looking if not utterly bizarre.
7. Check This
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Did you know that a cheque is only an instruction to a bank to exchange, rather than an exchange in itself and as such can be written on anything? As long as you clearly print the bank details, account details, your signature, and value to be transferred, you can legally use anything as a cheque. According to the Guinness Book Of Records, the strangest cheque recorded was one written on a cow. UK bank Barclays claimed in one of their advertising campaign’s that this also happened in one of their branches in 1970, where the cow was lead in and cashed. This did turn out to be a hoax in this case however. In any case, if using a cow as a cheque, it’s probably a good idea to make sure it’s not going to bounce.
8. Money REALLY Doesn’t Grow On Trees
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Are you one of these people, that every time you hear the saying ‘money doesn’t grow on trees’ intervene only to advise that ‘well money is made of paper, which is made from wood, which comes from trees’ with a smug little look of superior intellect? Well sorry to disappoint you, but it’s really not. What we call ‘paper’ money, is in most cases made up of a combination of linen and cotton and is actually more a like to cloth than paper. In some areas this currency is also being replaced for plastic money as an alternative.
9. The Money Bug
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The flu bug is a pretty resilient little fella. It can normally survive an average of 48 hours outside of the human body. But on a bank note, it can live for over 10 days if mixed in with some human nasal mucus, say from a sneeze. Food for thought next time you go shopping.
This isn’t as much of a problem in Japan however, where there are some ATMs that heat press each bill at 392°F before dispensing them to you clean and 90% bacteria free.
10. The Origins Of The Buck
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The term ‘Buck’ comes from a time before paper money was widespread currency, where animal hides; particularly elk and deer bucks were traded for goods and services.
11. The First And The Longest Lasting Currency
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There is a very strong argument that there is a currency that has spanned all continents and all ages up to the invention of coin and paper money. There is evidence of the use of this currency historically in China and the Americas dating back to the end of the Neolithic Age, and as recently as the 19th century in Africa. This currency is…shells. Yes, shells. The most common that appears to have been used as currency is the Cowry, and different shells had different values depending on the culture or tribe.
12. The Dog Chewed It
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How many times have you torn a valuable note, put a couple through the wash or had your wallet chewed by a pet? At least one of these situations or similar is likely to happen once or twice in your life. But if your notes get damaged, do not fret as the money is not necessarily ruined. As long as 51% of the note is intact, you can apply to have the note exchanged for a brand new one. In most cases it is the central bank of the country in question that will execute the request. If a bank note manages to avoid an early annihilation, they can survive being folded up to 4000 times before eventually meeting their demise.
13. Why Some Coins Have Ridges
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Many years ago, when coins were not nickel or copper, but rather were made of precious metals like silver or gold, people – particularly crafty merchants or thieves would often ‘shave’ the edges off their coins without being noticed. They could make quite a living from this, shaving all the coins that passed through their hands, but eventually someone likely got greedy and shaved too much and the authorities caught on.
To combat coin shaving they started putting rough edges or ‘reeds,’ as they’re known, on the side so that any shaving would be immediately obvious. Different coins have a different number of ridges round the side.
14.The Most Zeroes On A Bank Note Ever
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It might sound like a myth, but it’s not. In Zimbabwe, prior to the collapse of the economy and the currency in 2009, there were legal tender notes in circulation to the value of Z$100 Trillion dollars. While this might sound impressive, if you consider that the Z$ dollar was valued at GB£0.00182749 at one stage, with inflation that reached a ridiculous 231 million% it is quite remarkable, but for all the wrong reasons. At this time, the price for a loaf of bread hit NZ$300 billion and the economy eventually collapsed due to hyperinflation.
15. The Lottery Monopoly
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It is estimated that 51% of all lottery tickets sold are purchased by only 5% of the total number of buyers. Some people really want to win the lottery I guess. Let’s hope they at least drive carefully to get their tickets, as if you drive 10 miles to buy your tickets you are 3 times more likely to die in a crash than you are to win the jackpot. Seriously.
16. There Is More Monopoly Money Printed Than Actual Money
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Each year, there is at least $30 billion of monopoly money printed, in the USA alone. In contrast to this there was only $974 million USD of real money printed. If only life was just a game…of monopoly.
17. The Most Expensive Object Ever Built
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To date the most expensive object ever built has cost a whopping $150 billion USD to build, and it’s not even on this planet. Rather, it orbits us several times a day in the guise of the International Space Station.
