What is money? Money is something people use to buy things. Sellers take it in exchange for what they sell.
Before money, people used barter. Barter means trading things you have for things you want.
Cowrie shells are small and white. People used them as money in many places. They did that for thousands of years.
On the island of Yap, huge stone discs were money. In early Virginia, people used tobacco as money.
The ancient Lydians invented coins. They lived in what is now Turkey.
People in China made the first paper money. That was about a thousand years ago.
Dollar bills are made of cotton and linen. They are not plain paper. The back of a bill is printed in green ink.
U.S. paper money is printed in two places. One is Washington, D.C. The other is Fort Worth, Texas.
You can earn money by doing a job. A want is something you would like to have. You can live without it.
Say you want to buy something. You do not have the money yet. You can save until you have enough.
A bank is a safe place to keep money. There, it will not be lost or stolen.
Words to know
- barter: trading things
- cowrie: small white shell
- discs: flat round things
- tobacco: a leafy plant
- bank: safe money place
