Some stops in the Money Museum. The spacing is even, not to scale.
The big ideaThe form of money changed, from things to coins to paper to numbers. The promise stayed.
How it works
The Money Museum's hall is a timeline: the oldest things are by the door and the newest at the far end.
Money began as swapping, then shells, beads and salt. The first stamped coins are about 2,600 years old, and paper money began in China about a thousand years ago.
Banks grew in busy towns several hundred years ago. Later came the first cards, cash machines, shopping on computers, taps and apps.
Only the form of money changed: things, then coins, then paper, then numbers. Money stayed a promise people agree on.
The oldest halls. All of these times are about, and the spacing is even, not to scale.
🐚shells, beads and salt🪙coins📜paper📱numbers
The forms of money.Nearer to now. The spacing is even, not to scale.
Example 1: Which is older?
Coins are about 2,600 years old.
Paper money is about 1,000 years old.
2,600 is more than 1,000, so coins are older.
Example 2: Before or after 1900?
Before: the first stamped coins, paper money, the tulip craze (1630s) and gold promises (1800s).
After: the first cards (1950), cash machines (1960s), shopping on computers (1990s) and the crash of 2008.
Example 3: Put the cards in place
Paper money began about a thousand years ago.
The first cards began in 1950.
So cards came long after paper money.
Example 4: What changed and what stayed
The form changed: things, then coins, then paper, then numbers.
The promise stayed: money works because people agree on it.
Words to know
timeline
Events in the order they happened.
craze
A sudden rush that many people join, like the tulip craze.
promise
What money stays through all its changes: something people agree on.
form
The shape money takes: things, coins, paper or numbers.
Watch out
Cards came after paper money, not before.
Money has not always been metal. It was shells and salt first, then metal, paper and now numbers.
No country promises gold for its money today, though many did in the 1800s.
A bigger number of years ago means older: 2,600 years ago is older than 1,000 years ago.
Try it
Which is older: paper money or the first cards?
Money changed its form: things, coins, paper, then what?
Did the tulip craze come before or after the Great Depression?
What stayed the same through the whole story of money?
Answers: 1. Paper money · 2. Numbers · 3. Before · 4. It is a promise people agree on
Try at homeWith a grown-up, draw a timeline of money. Put shells, coins, paper, cards and apps in order, with a note about each.
For grown-upsDraw a timeline of money together on a long strip of paper: shells, coins, paper, cards and apps in order, with a note about each.
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