15 Surprising Facts About Money & Global Currency

The first Bitcoin purchase might make you cry!

Here’s something a little different.

Today I bring to you 15 surprising facts about money you probably didn’t know, with an emphasis on global currency.

These are in no particular order BUT I did save some of my favorites and some of the strangest for the end. Plus, I’ll be sure to ramp up my bad dad jokes as we go.

If you prefer, watch the video version of this on my YouTube channel. Otherwise, let’s dive in.

1. A lot of people call money “paper”, but currency is actually composed of a blend of cotton and linen in the US — most commonly around 75% cotton and 25% linen. That’s why it doesn’t tear super easily. However, money made from Polymer has been introduced in more than a couple dozen countries in the last couple of decades because it lasts significantly longer, is better on the environment, is cheaper to make, and is more secure from counterfeiting.
2. Speaking of physical money, only 8% of the world’s currency is actual physical money. No, the rest isn’t Bitcoin… not yet at least. It should surprise no one but the bulk of transactions are done digitally. That makes sense. I rarely have cash on me myself. I’d be genuinely curious what percent of people actually have money in their wallets at any given time.
3. If you do want cash, pulling some out shouldn’t be too hard no matter where you are in the world. There are ATMs on every continent on Earth. In fact, there are over 1.6 million ATMs, and even two in Antarctica. Both are operated by Wells Fargo at the largest science hub on the continent. Now if that wasn’t a “cool” fact, I don’t know what is…
4. Here are 2 facts in one about ATMs: Friday is the most popular day for people to use ATMs. And the average amount people withdraw is $80. I have to imagine these will all disappear in our lifetime. I wonder if visiting the last ATM in use someday will be a tourist destination like the last Blockbuster in Bend, OR.
5. More monopoly money is printed in a given year than real money. Keep in mind though, governments mainly print money annually to replace damaged or worn-out bills. Don’t be jealous but I have the Millennial Monopoly version with avocados on my monopoly money.
6. Speaking of games, more than half of lottery tickets sold are bought by 5% of people. The average person spends $223 a year on lottery tickets. That’s $18.58 a month. That equals $11,150 over 50 years. BUT, if you invested $18.58 a month for 50 years and earned 8% interest, you’d have over $150,000. I just couldn’t help one compound interest calculation, sorry!
7. On a lighter note, the first Bitcoin transaction was to buy pizza, 2 pizzas for 10,000 Bitcoins in Florida. And wow that’s a lot of Bitcoin. Bummer for that guy or gal. It would be worth roughly $550 million. I read the flavor of that pizza was salt in the wounds…
8. The study or collection of money is called “numismatics” which I assume makes me a numismatic? I prefer “money nerd”.
9. Global debt is now almost 2.5 times greater than the world’s total stockpiles of money, and that’s depressing so don’t spend too much time thinking about it. Eat some pizza instead.
10. Star Wars, Pokémon and Frozen coins are legal tender on the island of Niue. The Polynesian island of Niue partners with the New Zealand Mint to produce what is clearly the world’s most awesome legal tender, commemorating Stars Wars, Pokémon, and even Disney’s Frozen. If you get a Frozen coin, don’t you dare Let It Go. That was too easy!
11. Most banknotes are full of bacteria and dollar bills are the dirtiest. No surprise there. A 2017 study found 100 different strains of bacteria on dollar bills tested, in addition to viruses, pet DNA, and even illegal drugs. There’s a virus going around I’m sure you’ve heard of so don’t touch those bills. In fact, just get them off your hands and send them to me instead.
12. Queen Elizabeth II holds the record for appearing on more currency than any other person. Her face can be found on banknotes in 33 different countries. In 1935, Canada was the first to use her face on a banknote. But she’s never been on Monopoly money. Maybe that’s why she doesn’t let the royal family play Monopoly. She’s right though, it does get “too vicious”.
13. If you hate slugs, put pennies in your garden. Supposedly, if you bury them in your garden they will repel slugs because it literally shocks them they touch copper and zinc. THAT’S downright shocking, amiright? Womp womp…
14. I pulled this directly from Wikipedia and don’t have anything witty to say about it because it’s already clever: A zero-rupee note is a banknote imitation issued in India as a means of helping to fight systemic political corruption. The notes are “paid” in protest by angry citizens to government functionaries who solicit bribes in return for services which are supposed to be free. Zero rupee notes, which are made to resemble the regular 50 rupee banknote of India, are the creation of a non-governmental organization known as 5th Pillar which has, since their inception in 2007, distributed over 2.5 million notes as of 2014.
15. If all gold in the world were melted into one square, it would only be 21 meters on each side. That’s 68.8976 feet for you Americans. I could have rounded up but Americans are immature. On that note, it was recently estimated that there’s a quadrillion ton of diamonds deep below the Earth’s surface. They’re not nearly as rare as we once thought. Good thing I didn’t just buy an engagement ring…

Here are 3 bonus facts just for fun:

• There are 293 ways to make change for $1. But 7,000 ways to ask for a dollar. There are roughly 7,000 languages…
• The motto on the first US coin was “Mind Your Business”. And the tails side of the coin supposedly featured a big “talk to the hand” emoji. Only half of that was made up.
• And finally, if you have $10 in your pocket and you have no debt, you are wealthier than 25% of Americans. That’s roughly 82 million people you have more wealth than. A little bit of perspective anyway.

I wanted to write something a bit different and light today. Did you chuckle? Learn anything new? Let me know. Otherwise, have an awesome week or weekend ahead.

Frankie Calkins (M. Ed) is a Digital Marketing Manager by day. On nights and weekends, he’s an author, YouTuber, and finance course creator. He lives in Seattle, WA. Contact: [email protected]