15 Curious Money Facts

The U.S. dollar is the most commonly used currency in the world.

Early Romans used salt as a form of money. The word “salary” derived from sal, which means “salt” in Latin.

There are more than 1.6 million ATMs in the world.

The United States officially adopted the dollar as its unit of currency in 1785.

Abraham Lincoln was the first American to be pictured on an American coin in 1909.

In 1920, credit cards were first used in the United States.

There are eagles printed on all U.S. currency bills.

Icelanders use debit cards and credit cards more than any other country in the world.

Over 170 different currencies are used around the world today.

More Monopoly money is printed each year than actual money.

The International Space Station is the world’s most expensive object ever built at US$150 billion.

Two-thirds of all US $100 bills are held outside the United States.

Pablo Escobar had enough cash that rats ate almost $1 billion of his money each year.

The average American family carries a credit card debt of $8,000.

In 2011, Americans spent around US$61.4 billion on their pets.