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Currency facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
A print from 1845 shows cowry shells being used as money by an Arab trader
Cowry shells were once used as money by traders.

A currency is a special kind of money that helps people buy and sell things. It's a way to trade goods and services easily. Think of it as a tool for exchange. A currency zone is an area, like a country or a group of countries, where a certain currency is mostly used.

When countries trade with each other, they use exchange rates. An exchange rate is like a price that tells you how much one currency is worth compared to another. For example, it tells you how many US dollars you can get for one Euro. Modern currencies can either have floating or fixed exchange rates. This depends on how their value is decided in the world market.

How Money Began

Jiao zi
Jiaozi from the Song dynasty, the world's earliest paper money.

Money has changed a lot over time. Long ago, people used different things as currency. These early forms of money helped people keep track of what they owned and what they traded.

From Counters to Metal

The idea of currency started with two main inventions. First, people used counters to make sure that goods shipped from one place arrived correctly. Second, they began using silver bars, called ingots, to represent stored value, like a large amount of grain. Both of these ideas were used by 2000 BC. This early way of using metals to show value was the basis of trade for over 1,500 years!

The Invention of Coins

Over time, people started using the metal itself as the main form of value. At first, it was silver, then both silver and gold. These metals were dug up from the ground, weighed, and then stamped into coins. The stamp on a coin told people that it had a certain, known weight of valuable metal.

Coins made it easier to trade. Even though some people tried to make fake coins, they also created a new way to count value, which helped lead to banking.

In many big economies, coins were made in three different types of metal: copper, silver, and gold.

  • Gold coins were used for very large purchases, like paying soldiers or funding government activities.
  • Silver coins were used for bigger, but more common, transactions. They were also used to set prices for taxes, payments, and agreements.
  • Copper coins were for everyday small purchases.

Famous Currencies

Some well-known currencies around the world include:

World Currencies by Name

Here are some currency names from around the world, listed in alphabetical order:

Images for kids

  • Electrum trite, Alyattes, Lydia, 620-563 BC

    The world's oldest coin, created in the ancient Kingdom of Lydia.

  • United States one dollar bill, reverse

    A United States one dollar bill.

  • 400 Euros in 50 Euro notes

    400 Euros in 50 Euro notes.

  • British-pound-notes-on-table

    British pound notes on a table.

  • Thai baht

    Thai baht banknotes.

  • Indonesian Rupiah (IDR) banknotes2009

    Indonesian Rupiah banknotes from 2009.

  • 1000 yen Natsume Soseki

    A 1000 yen banknote.

  • Euler-10 Swiss Franc banknote (front)

    A Swiss Franc banknote.

  • Australia 10dollar note 1968

    An Australian 10 dollar note from 1968.

  • Fiji 10 dollar note, reverse side (8031928059)

    The reverse side of a Fiji 10 dollar note.

  • IRA-1b-Imperial Bank of Persia-One Toman (1906)

    An Imperial Bank of Persia One Toman note from 1906.

  • 10000-rubles-Belarus-2011-b

    A 10000-ruble banknote from Belarus.

  • Brazil reál címletsor

    Various Brazilian Real notes.

  • Kenyan 20 Shilling Note

    A Kenyan 20 Shilling Note.

  • 25-dracmas-1903-front

    A 25-drachma note from 1903.

  • HD-north-korea-5-won-2002-front

    A 5-won banknote from North Korea (2002).

  • Mapa dos nomes de moedas do mundo

    Names of currency units by country, in Portuguese.

  • 2002 currency exchange AIGA euro money

    A logo showing currency exchange.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Moneda (divisa) para niños

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Currency Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.