Money WondersPlay

Money & Its HistoryHistory of Money

From Shells to Coins

Cowrie shells, silver lumps and the first stamped coins

For thousands of years, paying meant pulling out a scale. Then someone stamped a lion on a lump, and shopping changed forever.

You'll find out

  • What people paid with before coins
  • Why a stamp beat a scale
  • Who was rich as Croesus

Why it matters

Every coin in your pocket still works this way: a mark you trust instead of a scale.

About 3 min6 interactive slides · 5 questionsLesson 5 · Zone 1

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More in this zone

  1. 1Modern MoneyWhere Is Your Money?Your balance is a number on a screen; only about one US dollar in ten exists as cash
  2. 2What Money IsWhat Is Money, Really?Swap it, price with it, save it, and believe in it
  3. 3Time and MoneyWhat's Your Hour Really Worth?Your real hourly wage is lower than your paycheck says
  4. 4CoinsThe Four-Cent PennyMaking a cent cost the US Mint almost four, so in 2025 it stopped
  5. 6History of MoneyThe Barter MythTextbooks say people bartered before money. Anthropologists can't find it
  6. 7History of MoneyPaper PromisesThe first paper money was an IOU you could pass on
  7. 8History of MoneyWhy It's Called a DollarThe name started in a silver mine in Bohemia
  8. 9OpportunityAcres of DiamondsIn a famous 1890 lecture, a farmer sells his land to hunt the world for diamonds; the next owner finds them in the backyard stream