351
Credit Cards
a credit card is a piece of plastic that can be
used in place of money. in many countries,
credit cards have a built-in computer chip
containing information that can be read by a
machine when the card is used. the credit
card company pays for the goods, and you pay
the credit card company a month or so later.Banks
Most people deposit, or store, their
money in a bank. Banks keep this
money safe in a vault or lend it to
their other customers. the bank
has an account, or record, of
how much each of its customers
has deposited. Banks pay out
money when their customers
need it to make purchases.
People with bank accounts can
also buy things by writing
checks—notes that the bank
promises to exchange for cash.
People can also pay using debit
cards connected with their bank
account for cashless transactions.Coins
People from ancient Lydia (now
turkey) were the first to make
coins, about 2,700 years ago.
their coins were made from electrum, a mixture of gold and
silver. today, coins are used only for small denominations
(amounts of money). Paper money is used for larger amounts,
because notes are more difficult to forge than coins.Specially made paper includes
a watermark, which is visible only
when the note is held up to the light.Bank notes
Governments issue bank notes, or bills, and guarantee their
value. it is a crime for anyone else to copy and print bank
notes. the crime is called forgery, or counterfeiting, and
bank notes have complicated designs to make copying
difficult. thomas de La rue & Company is one of
the world’s most successful bank note printers. their
specimen note includes various security features
which make their notes very
difficult to copy.The raised
letters include
your name,
card number,
and card
expiry date.the next tiMe you are about to buy something, look at your money.
Coins and bills are just discs of metal and sheets of paper, yet the stores accepts
them as payment for useful, valuable goods. Money is a token that people trade
for goods of an agreed value, and strange objects have been used for money
throughout the world. tibetans once used blocks of dried tea! it does not
really matter what you use as money, provided everyone can reach an
agreement about what it is worth. Many early coins were made from precious
metals, such as gold and silver, but in 11th-century China, paper bank notes,
or bills, first appeared. unlike gold, bank notes had no real value. however,
the bank that issued them promised to exchange them for gold. British bank
notes still have the same
promise printed on them.
the united states government
stopped exchanging
bills for gold in 1971.The weight of
a coin made
of precious metal
indicates its value.The built-in
computer chip
contains
your personal
bank details.Find out more
Plastics
rocks and minerals
technology
trade and industryMoney
Some Native Americans
used wampum belts
made of clamshell
beads for money.The first Chinese coins
were made of bronze in
the shape of tools, such
as the head of a hoe.Mint
a government-controlled factory
called a mint produces coins.
each coin is stamped with a
special design, including its
value, and often the year of
manufacture. this stamping
process is known as “minting”.A strip of plastic or metal
thread is embedded
in the paper.The metal of a
modern coin is
almost worthless,
so the value of the
The loops and whirls coin is stamped on it.
are machine-engraved and
extremely difficult to copy.US_351_Money.indd 351 22/01/16 11:12 am