The history of money

 The history of money

At first people bartered, they exchanged things they had for things they needed.

People used different things as money: knives and rise, cattle, tobacco, whale's teeth and shells.

The first coins were made in Ancient Greece.

The first banknotes (paper money) were made in France.

But first paper money, as well as the first coins ever, was invented in China. 

Now people carry plastic credit cards instead of cash. With your credit card you can take money from the cash machine.

You can see queens, presidents, famous people, a tiger or an elephant, cows and fruit, a map, schoolchildren on their banknotes and coins.

Many countries in Europe now have the same currency - euros.

Great Britain use pounds.

People travelling to other countries usually need to convert their money into the local currency. For that an exchange rate is used.