Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2015 i Faces People, Places, and World Culture for Kids and Children

1 Ancient Mesopotamians were using pieces of silver currency some 4,500 years ago. It wasn’t long before other ancient societies followed suit. Paper money was used in China beginning in the 11th century and Marco Polo introduced the concept to Europe after his travels in Asia in the 13th century, but it didn’t gain acceptance for hundreds of years. You might keep your money in your wallet or in piggy bank, but for the people of Yap Island, money is often on display in the front yard. Their traditional form of currency is called rai. These large stone disks can weigh more than 100 pounds! O 36 Ý B are used in sushi, are becoming increasingly rare, driving the price of it to astronomical numbers. Once, most people used coins…

Actuals trading: The physical exchange of a commodity either immediately or in the future. Board: The computer display where the latest purchase and sale price of a commodity appears. Commodities market: The buying and selling of commodities all over the world. Commodity: A primary good that may have been partially processed. Commodity exchange: The place where futures trading takes place. Contract: A specific agreement between a buyer and a seller. Demand: The quantity of a commodity that is needed. Floor: The area at the commodity exchange where trading takes place. Floor broker: A broker who trades at the commodity exchange. Forward price: The selling price of a commodity at a future date. Futures contract: A contract to deliver or receive commodities at a specific price and at a later date.…

“Money to burn.” Our society is about as rich as can be, but in China, people burn paper money whether or not they are rich. It is called spirit or ghost money, and burning it is the Chinese way of transferring wealth from this world to the invisible world of the spirits. The Chinese invented paper around A.D. 100. They introduced paper money when merchants traveling along the flourishing Silk Route began accepting payment in IOUs written on paper. Gold, silver, and copper money were too heavy — and too tempting to robbers — to carry over the long distances back home. The IOUs, lightweight and easy to transport, were called “flying cash,” and thus paper money was invented, centuries before it was heard of in the West. Soon, a…

The Pyramid At the top of a pyramid, an all-seeing eye looks to the future. The Latin phrase, Annuit coeptis, around the eye translates as “Providence favors our undertaking.” The men who founded our country believed that our nation was under the protection of God (Providence). The pyramid has 13 layers for the original 13 colonies. The pyramid is unfinished and can continue to grow, just as the nation has grown. (You will see many more references to the number 13 as you look closely at the bill.) At the base of the pyramid is the Roman numeral MDCCLXXVI (1776), the year our nation was born. Below the pyramid is Novus ordo seclorum, Latin for “A new order of the ages” — another reference to the birth of our nation.…

The Hunts were not the first to make counterfeit money. In fact, the practice is as old as money itself. In ancient Greece, counterfeit coins started popping up very shortly after coins were first introduced. By the 6th century B.C., the Greek government threatened counterfeiters with the death penalty. The ancient Romans cut off the ears and revoked the citizenship of anyone who made or distributed fake coins. This did little to stop the crime, so the punishment was made more severe. Counterfeiters had their ears, hands, and feet cut off, and their bodies were thrown into a den of lions. While some people were making their own coins, others trimmed the precious metals from around the edges of government-issued coins. The metal was melted down and used to make…

What kind of coins can be used to buy stuff, but can’t be seen, and can’t be held in your hand? Bitcoins, of course. Bitcoins are a form of digital currency, a kind of money that exists only in computers online. Sound like a prize in a video game? In a way, they are … Making Money from Math Most money comes from banks after being issued by countries, such as U.S. dollars or Mexican pesos. But you’ll never find the United States of Bitcoin on a map. Bitcoin isn’t a country — it’s a software system — and bitcoins are created when computers solve complex mathematical formulas called algorithms. There are a few ways to get bitcoins. You can exchange them with someone or receive them as payment for…

Here’s the answer to all that loose change in your pocket. All countries today use coins to buy and sell goods. Most coins are small, round, and made of copper, silver, or sometimes gold. Each coin has a standard value set by its government so that buyers and sellers will know its value. For example, in the United States, every dime has the same value as every other dime. The island of Yap, located in the South Pacific between Guam and New Guinea, is known for its unusual form of money: large stone disks, some of which weigh more than 100 pounds. The Yapese also make and use two kinds of shell money called yar. Today, rai and yar are the two types of traditional money still used on the…

People rarely stop to think about the artwork on a piece of money. However, a lot of thought and artistry has been put into the making of bills. You can tell what is important to a country by what is on its money. ften the bills depict significant people such as presidents or military leaders. Sometimes the money shows landmarks and special buildings. Other money bills have beautiful paintings that symbolize ideals such as peace and liberty. Intricate designs are put on the bills to prevent the making of counterfeit or fake bills. In the late 1800s, artists were commissioned to design new money bills. A design called Electricity Presenting Light To The World by Walter Shirlaw, which was featured on an 1896 silver certificate, is considered to be an…

Candy bars are made of many different ingredients, such as cocoa beans, sugar, and nuts. These ingredients are called commodities or primary goods. A commodity may be an agricultural product (soft commodity) like wheat, cotton, sugar, coffee, or cocoa or a raw material (hard commodity) like crude oil, silver, or gold that may have been partially processed. People all over the world use commodities. A country can grow or produce commodities for use there or in another country. The world’s leading producer of cocoa beans is the Ivory Coast in Africa. Africa ships most of its cocoa beans to other countries where they are processed and consumed. How does a candy company in the United States obtain cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast? Cocoa beans, like commodities all over the…

Why do we save our pennies in a piggy bank and not a kitty bank or camel bank? Orange clay used in the 15th century to make kitchen ware was called “pygg.” People saved money in these earthen jars or pots, and “pygg” eventually became “pig.” The oldest piggy bank , or money box, is from the 2nd century B.C. It was found in the Greek colony of Priene and was the shape of a small Greek temple with a coin slit in the pediment. Early piggy banks did not have plugs. People had to break open the banks to retrieve their savings. They had to be quite certain they wanted to take their money out! Rachel,the unofficial mascot of Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, is a bronze cast…

Once upon a time, a rich man named Chen Boshi lived in the town of Quanzhou. Life had treated Chen Boshi well, and he was able to buy whatever he wished. But, Chen Boshi did not enjoy his wealth. He could not, because he spent all his time investing, lending, collecting, and paying taxes. Normal mealtime hours were impossible. On occasion, business kept him so busy that he fell asleep hungry. Chen Boshi’s wife began to fear for her husband’s welfare and so pleaded with him to relax. One evening, she walked into his office and said, “My dear husband, we may be rich, but your money has made you its slave. Take care, before money ruins you.” Chen Boshi knew his wife spoke the truth, but he did not…