Weird Facts About Money and Its History

Weird Facts About Money and Its History

Money—it rules our world, drives our decisions, and shapes entire economies. Yet, behind every shiny coin and crisp note lies a surprisingly strange history. The story of money isn’t just about wealth; it’s about human creativity, trust, and sometimes, pure weirdness.

One of the weirdest facts about money is that it didn’t start as coins or paper—it began with barter and belief. In ancient societies, people traded anything from seashells to salt as a form of currency. In fact, the word salary comes from salarium, meaning “salt money,” because Roman soldiers were sometimes paid in salt. Imagine getting your monthly income in spoonfuls of salt instead of cash—it was literally worth its weight!

Another strange moment in monetary history happened in the island nation of Yap (in Micronesia), where people used giant limestone disks called rai stones as money. Some of these stones were so massive they couldn’t be moved; ownership simply changed hands through word of mouth. Picture buying a house and saying, “That big rock by the shore? Yeah, that’s my bank account.”

Then there’s the story of how money helped shape myths and superstitions. Many cultures believed coins brought good luck—tossing coins into wells or fountains was once a spiritual ritual, not just a tourist habit. In some places, coins were buried with the dead as “fare” for the afterlife, a tradition tracing back to ancient Greece and the tale of Charon, the ferryman of souls.

During the Great Depression, some towns in the U.S. even printed their own temporary money using wood, leather, or cardboard because of cash shortages. And in Canada, in the 1930s, the government issued coins made from… wait for it—toothpaste tubes! Aluminum was scarce, so they improvised. Talk about brushing up on financial innovation.

Even modern money carries its oddities. The British pound is one of the oldest currencies still in use, dating back over 1,200 years. But did you know that more than 90% of all paper money has traces of bacteria—and in some cases, drugs—on it? Makes you think twice before putting that note in your mouth to “free your hands.”

What makes money’s story so fascinating is how it mirrors human evolution—from shells to crypto, from metal to invisible numbers on a screen. We’ve always found a way to assign value to something, even if that “something” was once a rock, a cow, or a pinch of salt.

In the end, money is less about the material it’s made from and more about the shared belief that gives it power. It’s a global illusion that keeps the world running—and the weirder part is, it works.