The Adventures of Penny

The Adventures of Penny

Hi, I'm Penny! I bet you've seen a lot of me... at the store, in your dad's pocket, or even between the cushions of the couch. I'd like to tell you a little bit about myself and some of my friends. All together, we make up something called Money!

The Adventures of Penny Money is what people

use to buy the things that they need. A long time ago, people didn't use money. They would trade something they owned for something that they needed. If the shoemaker needed some bread, he would give the baker some shoes, and the baker would give him some bread. This was called "bartering."


Bartering worked fine for a while…until the baker had too many shoes, but the shoemaker needed more bread. The solution to this problem was Money. The baker and the shoemaker agreed to accept money for the things that they made.

The Adventures of Penny with the Professor

• The word money comes from the Latin word "moneta". Moneta was the name of the place where money was made in ancient Rome.

• Early forms of money included beads, shells, stones and gems, and even whales teeth. Furs, cattle, tea and tobacco have also been used as money.

• Early money was weighed, not counted. Coins, which have their value stamped on them, became popular because they allowed money to be counted.

• As trading between countries increased, so did the use of money. It was a convenient way for people to purchase goods in large quantities.


There are 2 different kinds of money... coins and paper money. I'm a coin. I'm made of metal, and stamped so that people know how much I'm worth. My friend Dollar Bill is paper money.


It says right on him how much he's worth. Different types of money are worth different amounts.


• The first coins were made around 700 B.C. by the Lydians, a group of traders who lived in what is now Western Turkey. The use of coins quickly spread to civilizations in Greece and Rome.

• The first paper money was made in China around 800 A.D.

• Paper money can either be "representative" or "fiat." Representative money is money that can be traded for an equal amount of either gold or silver. An example of representative money is a Silver Certificate. Fiat money is the type of money that we use every day. It cannot be traded for gold or silver. It is valuable because it is backed by the government, and people trust its worth.


Little money adds up to big money. I'm a penny, and I'm the smallest amount of money you can have. If you have five of me, you can trade me for a nickel. If you have a hundred of me, you can trade me for a dollar. If you have five dollar bills, you can trade them for one five dollar bill.

• The different values of money are called "denominations." You can tell what denomination a coin is by its size, its color, and of course by what it says on it. Paper money is a little trickier, because it's all the same size and color. Reading the bill will tell you what it's worth…but there's another way too. Each denomination of paper money has a portrait of a famous American on it:

• George Washington $1 - One Dollar

• Abraham Lincoln $5 - Five Dollars

• Alexander Hamilton $10 - Ten Dollars

• Andrew Jackson $20 - Twenty Dollars

• Ulysses S. Grant $50 - Fifty Dollars

• Benjamin Franklin $100 - One Hundred Dollars


Not just anyone can make money. In fact, only the government can make money. Coins, like me, are made at a place called the United States Mint. There are big pieces of metal at the Mint. They stamp the metal with a big heavy machine called a press, and out pops a perfect penny….or nickel…or dime….or quarter…or half dollar.


• The Bureau of Printing and Engraving makes paper money. Paper money is printed on big sheets of paper, and then cut into the size that fits in your pocket.

• Every coin or bill that the government makes has the year it was made stamped or printed on it. This afternoon when you go home, ask an adult if you can look at the money in their pocket and see if you can find the year it was made.


• Coins are made in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Denver, Colorado and San Francisco, California. Paper money is printed in Washington, DC and Texas. Pennies are made of zinc covered with copper. Nickels are a mixture of copper and nickel. Dimes, quarters, half-dollars and dollar coins are three layers of metal. The center layer is pure copper (you can see it on the edge), the top and bottom layers are a mixture of copper and nickel.

• 48% of the paper money printed each year is $1 bills.

• What happens to money when it gets old? Coins that are bent and unusable are melted to make new coins. Paper money is shredded and recycled. It is estimated that over 15 million pounds of paper money are shredded each year!*

• *NY Federal Reserve Bank


• After my friends and I are made, we get sent to a place called the Federal Reserve Bank. This is a really big place, where there is lots and lots of money. We wait at the Federal Reserve Bank until local banks and credit unions need us.

• When we're needed, we jump on a truck and go to the same bank or credit union that you go to.


• There are 12 Federal Reserve Banks in the United States. They are located in Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco. Local banks order money from the Federal Reserve Bank when they need it. Demand for money increases at certain times of the year. For example, in November and December, when people are using cash for holiday shopping, local banks order "extra" money from the Federal Reserve Bank.


Look! Billy and Sally were playing on the couch and found me! Have you looked in your couch? You might find some of my friends.


We could spend her.

What should we dowith this penny?

Don't spend me! Save Me!My friend Dollar Bill can tell you

how!

Take the Penny Trivia Quiz!

Take the Professor Trivia Quiz!

Penny’s Quiz

Bartering was • a) when the baker

and shoemaker would trade bread for shoes

• b) a circus act • c) a summer

holiday • d) a special magic

ring

a) when the baker and shoemaker would trade bread for shoes

Penny’s Quiz

There are 2 different kinds of money...

• a) pebbles and twigs

• b) rocks and leaves

• c) coins and paper money

• d) flowers and pictures

c) coins and paper money

Penny’s Quiz

Five pennies make• a) a dollar • b) a nickel • c) a jingle • d) a fortune

b) a nickel

Penny’s Quiz

Different coins are• a) all the same

size and color • b) square and

red • c) round and

blue • d) different sizes

and colors

d) different sizes and colors

Penny’s Quiz

Who can make money?

• a) it falls out of the sky

• b) it grows on trees

• c) the government can make money

• d) the bank

c) the government can make money

Penny’s Professor Quiz

Money was named after:

• a) Lord Henry Monert, who used it topay his servants

• b) Moneta - a Latin word for money

• c) Shiny rocks Pre-Historic men found along riverbanks

• d) The King of the Leprechauns

b) Moneta - a Latinword for money


The famous American who appears on the$10 bill is:

• a) Benjamin Franklin

• b) Ronald W. Reagan

• c) Alexander Hamilton

• d) John F. Kennedy

c) Alexander Hamilton


Lydians were the first people to:

• a) use coins • b) barter for

goods • c) accept Lord

Monert’s new system

• d) name their children Lydia

a) use coins


A Silver Certificate is:

• a) representative money

• b) worthless • c) fiat money • d) very shiny

a) representative money


About how many pounds of paper money areshredded every year?

• a) 15 lbs. (Fifteen) • b) 15,000 lbs.

(Fifteen Thousand) • c) 15,000,000 lbs.

(Fifteen Million) • d) 15,000,000,000

lbs. (Fifteen Billion

c) 15,000,000 lbs.(Fifteen Million)


Coins are made at the:

• a) Federal Reserve Bank

• b) Bureau of Printing and Engraving

• c) Internal Revenue Service

• d) U. S. Mintd) U. S. Mint


Paper money was first used in

• a) China • b) Mesopotamia • c) Florida • d) Egypt

a) China


The word 'denomination' means:

• a) where a coin was minted

• b) different values of money

• c) Lord Monert’s system of payment

• d) shredding worn out paper money

b) different valuesof money


Until banks need it, money is kept:

• a) at the White House

• b) at Fort Knox • c) at the Federal

Reserve Bank • d) Money isn’t

made until it’s needed

c) at the FederalReserve Bank


Pennies are made of a) copper

• b) copper and zinc

• c) silver • d) gold

b) copper and zinc


Now let’s see what you remember. Take the quiz your teacher hands out and then on another day, come back and meet my friend, Bill.

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The Adventures of Penny