The video below delivers ten quick interesting facts about money, including that money can carry salmonella and E. coli. and that the U.S. prints almost $700 million dollars every day.
- Paper money can carry salmonella and E. coli. The flu virus can survive on it for 10 days. (This item on the list of money facts is questionable as the CDC says flu virus can survive at most 12 hours outside the human body.) Hitachi made an ATM that heated bills to 392 degrees Fahrenheit before ironing and dispensing them.
- In the U.S. 37 million bills are printed every day or $696 million dollars. 95% of this is to replace currency held overseas, which amounts to 66% of U.S. money.
- Credited with inventing the ATM, John Shepherd Baron was inspired by vending machines. At the time, plastic cards did not exist, so he used radioactive checks instead.
- A satirical magazine once sent checks worth 13 cents to various wealthy people. Donald Trump and arms dealer Adnan Khashoggi were the only people who cashed them. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, two of the world’s richest men, didn’t cash such checks.
- Queen Elizabeth II appears on the currency of 33 countries in 26 different portraits. Prince Charles’ portrait will face in the opposite direction when he becomes king.
- The smell left on your hands after touching coins isn’t that of metal but of human body odor. The smell is caused by the breaking down of skin oils after touching iron.
- A collector once paid $2,500 for a $1 dollar bill with the serial number B000000002J. Collectors value unique serial numbers that fall into categories like “solids.” A “solid” is a serial number where a number is repeated eight times.
- The Chinese were the first to use paper money. They were using it 500 years before Europe in the 17th Century. They stopped its use in 1455 due to hyperinflation and didn’t use it again for several hundred years.
- The name of a new Filipino president was once misspelled on 100 peso notes. Another money mistake happened in Chile where a million coins were printed with “Chiie.” The mistake wasn’t noticed until a year later.
- Drug lord Pablo Escobar wrote off 10% of his money to water damage or rats eating it in storage. He spent $2,500 a month on rubber bands to bundle all his money.
That’s it for the list of money facts in this video. For another surprising money fact, see this video of an iPhone that costs $2.7 million dollars.