What is money?

We often think of money as coins and paper money which use everyday which is true to a certain extent. Money has been used as trade for goods, to measure a man's wealth. Many objects have been some form of money in other times and places. Amber, beads, shells, drums, eggs, feathers, ivory,cloth, jade, kettles, leather, mats, nails, oxen, pigs, quartz, rice, salt, weapons, you name it has been used as "money" some common form of trade. More familiar types of money would be silver, gold and diamonds. In Biblical times pieces of silver were used as a payment for Jesus Christ. Precious metals have been used throughout history as jewelry and that is probably why they were use as money in many ancient societies and civilizations.

Today metal coins usually made of nickel or some other metal alloy as well as paper money are used as a common currency within each individual country. Each country had specific denominations ( values or types) like $100, $50, $10 etc...And the designs of these banknotes or paper money again portray outstanding figures, scenes, national symbols from the countries history.

Another popular form of trading today is actually done without any physical currency at all. Credit cards, cheques, debit cards, money orders you name it is all done electronically between computers in banks, trading centres, supermarkets, department stores all over! All done within seconds or minutes of being started.

Why we need money

Well since we cant exactly define coins and banknotes as money , we must then define it by its purpose or function. Money primarily is used as:

• Common measure of value (for trading)
• Method of payment

How did money come about?

Out of all the items that were being trade a few like one or two became the preferred items to trade with because of their qualities in acting as media of exchange and their value.

When did banking start?

Banking is said to have started in Ancient societies where the royal palaces and temples provided secure places for the safekeeping of harvested grain and other essentials.

In Egypt harvest grain were stored in warehouses and the farmer given a form of payment, or piece of land or it went to his taxes. The recording of a farmers contribution on the scrolls gradually originated in the form of receipts upon depositing his grain. Gradually a method came about and evolved into a system of banking that exists today.

1. Metals are valuable. Typically coins of higher value are made of metal of higher value.
2. Metals are durable. Unlike stone, they won't shatter; unlike wood, they don't burn easily and are hard to break.
3. Metals are easy and cheap to form and stamp. They can be melted and recast; they can be stamped with the king's (or queen's) head and anything else you care to put on them. In this way, it becomes easier to distinguish real currency from counterfeits.
   

Process of making coins
Well coins are made at a mintage, like the U.S Mint. What is a mint? The process and procedure of making or manufacturing money, both coin and currency. The entire minting process involves refining metal to the correct proportion, rolling it into strips, cutting planchets from it, striking the coins, sorting and bagging them, and distributing them into the channels of banking and commerce.

How exactly are they made

1. Blanking
   Large strips of metal probably around 1,400 feet long rolled into a coil are used manufacture quarters, half-dollars, and dollars. Each coil is fed through a blanking press which punches out round discs called blanks or (planchet). The remaining pieces of the sheets called webbing are collected and recycled.
   
   
2. Annealing, Washing and Drying
   The blanks are heated in an annealing furnace to soften them. Afterwards they are passed through a washer and dryer.
   
   
3. Riddling
   The shiny blanks are sorted on a “riddler” to screen out any that are the wrong size or shape.
   
   
4. Upsetting
   The good blanks go through an upsetting mill. This raises a rim around their edges.
   
   

5. Striking
   The blanks then go to the coining press. Where, the coins are struck from dies, which are two cylindrical pieces of metal, each bearing an incised design, date, and other information. These dies are mounted in a coining press. A blank disk, called a planchet, is inserted on top of the lower die, the top die is then squeezed or forced against the planchet with many tons of pressure, and a coin is created.
   
   
6. Inspection
   Using magnifying glasses each batch of newly struck coins is spot checked for any misprints. They are run through a coin sizer to remove any dented or irregular shaped coins.
   
   
7. Counting and Bagging
   An automatic counting machine counts the coins and drops them into large canvas bags. The bags are sewn shut, loaded on pallets, and taken by forklifts to be stored in vaults. New coins are shipped by truck to Federal Reserve Banks. From there, the coins go the local bank.

The security features incorporated into the making of banknotes can be quite elaborate and varied. From the use of special paper, watermarks, special printing, security threads and invisible features. In the Caribbean typical banknotes features political leaders, aspects of the island culture, as well as national symbols like birds.

What are they made of ?

Banknotes are made from a high quality of paper made from a mixture of cotton and linen. US Banknotes are composed of 75% cotton and 25% linen mixture. The life expectancy of it is approximately 15-18 months. Most European countries use a different mixture of cotton and linen. Some countries also use plastic in the production of banknotes, which increases durability and counterfeit resistance.

Some banknotes are printed on a polypropylene polymer material a switch from the paper cotton mixture reasons Why the switch ? Firstly, wear and tear the polymer bank notes are stronger and non-porous. Polymer notes last at least four times as long as paper notes. They don't get as dirty and tatty as paper and they are much harder to tear. Secondly, polymer bank notes allow for more sophisticated security features to deter forgeries.

Currently paper notes are shredded and discarded when they become old, polymer bank notes can be recycled economically into useful products such as polymer wheelbarrows, compost bins and plumbing fittings.

Security Threads
The metal security thread was invented by Stanley B. Chamberlain and consisted of a fine metal (aluminum foil) covered with cellophane and embedded in the paper, The electrical conductivity of the thread is used as a method to determine if the note is a counterfeit. The plastic thread is a newer advancement.. The embedded security thread can be seen when held up to the light and may appear solid or fragmented. The security strip is placed in different areas of the note for each denomination to stop counterfeiters from raising the note. Some denominations have the security strip placed in different areas of the notes to deter counterfeiters. Similarly the plastic threads may also have an inscription with the banks name, denomination, or design on it. The plastic threads may also have UV properties changing color when exposed to UV light,

The latest version of security thread is the metallic one and it breaks the surface of the paper intermittently. This "windowed" thread when held up to the light appears as a solid line, and appears as silvery dashes under normal or regular viewing. This helps to prevent photocopying by the newer coping machines and also makes it easier to see.

Printing and Inks
Many printing methods are used in the production of bank notes, engraved printing, color, print registry, serial numbers, micro printing, and latent imaging. Today the most important parts of bank notes are generally printed in a method know as intaglio printing. This starts with a master engraver, engraving the art into steel plates, from which the production plates are made. Then ink is applied to the plates, wiped clean and the remaining ink in the groves and fine lines is apply under enormous pressure to the paper (7,500 to 15,000 psi), this gives the printed surface of the note a raised feeling.

Most countries have switched a long time ago to using multiple colored inks to help foil counterfeiting. The use of color increases the expense and time required to produce counterfeits. With the advent of laser printer these two methods are not as effective as the use to be.

Many notes are also produced with perfect registry. This is were a design on the front will align perfectly with the design on the back. The French are true masters of this art and beautiful examples of this can be seen many French notes, the facial parts of the portrait align perfectly front and back

Fluorescent and Ultraviolet Properties
These features can only be seen under UV lighting. Luminescent compounds can be combined with anything to give it fluorescent properties. It can be combined with the treads, security dots, security strip, and inks.

The counterfeiting of money is one of the oldest crimes in history. At some periods in early history, it was considered treasonous and was punishable by death.
Today, counterfeiting is still a prosperous trade. Rashes of fake bills, usually all of the same denomination (face value), will hit on of the major cities and are usually traced to a single source. Modern counterfeits are nearly all photomechanical, and therefore do not carry the mistakes of engraving

Techniques

Blue fibers embedded throughout some banknotes like those in US dollars. Counterfeiters try to simulate these fibers by printing tiny red and blue lines on their paper. Close inspection reveals, however, that on the counterfeit note the lines are printed on the surface, not embedded in the paper. However counterfeiters use a process called raising which is the process of bleaching or chemically treating a note to remove the ink and then printing a higher denomination on genuine paper.

Also genuine paper currency is sometimes altered in an attempt to increase its face value. One common method is to glue numerals from higher denomination notes to the corners of lower denomination notes.

Genuine coins are stamped out by special machinery. Most counterfeit coins are made by pouring liquid metal into molds or dies which often leaves die marks, such as cracks or pimples of metal on the counterfeit coin.

Counterfeit coins are made to simulate rare coins which to fool coin collectors. This can be done by altering genuine coins to increase their monetary value. The most common changes are the removal, addition, or alteration of the coin's date or mint marks.