Money Around the World

Follow this link to learn about currency in different countries. This fun page has many games to play including Coins of the World.

Canada's dollar is called a "Looney" because it has a picture of a loon on the back.

Use the Bloomberg.com: Currency Calculator to convert money between countries.

Each country around the world has its own currency. Each country decides on its own unit of money.

In Europe, there are many countries that share a common currency. Because some European countries are small and people travel easily between countries, many European countries got together and agreed to share one currency called the euro. They did this because exchanging money was a daily event for so many people. The new euro comes in both paper money coins and paper money. The coins are made in eight denominations: 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 50 euro cents, plus 1 euro and 2 euros. Banknotes (called euro bills) come in seven denominations. Euro banknotes look the same in all the countries. But euro coins have different designs on the backs, depending on which country made it. Some European countries did not adopt the euro. Great Britain, Sweden, and Denmark like having their own national currencies and plan to keep using them.

Commerce, or business, between countries is called foreign trade. Commerce can be the trading of goods for money or goods for goods. This has been going on for hundreds of years.

The value of money is set by governments, and there are different forms of money used in each country. In America, the unit of money is called the dollar, which is equal to one hundred cents. Mexico's currency is based on the peso. One peso is worth about one dime Mexico in America. The word "peso" comes from the old Spanish dollar. Currency from several Scandinavian countries have different spellings for their money unit, but they all basically mean "crown." China's money unit is called the yuan. Japan's money unit is based on the money chest yen. Both countries are among America's largest trading partners.

Each nation's unit of money has a slightly different value, and that value changes, at least slightly, every day. Most businesses do not accept foreign money. People in other countries need to exchange money at a bank or at a currency exchange.

Citations

Books and Magazines

Cooper, Jason. Around the World with Money. Vero Beach: Rourke Publishing, 2003.

Price, Sean. Kids Discover Money. July, 2003: pp. 1-19.

Images

Images of bills, loon, Mexico, and treasure chest from "Microsoft Office Online" <http://office.microsoft.com/clipart/default.aspx?cag=1> Images free for non-profit and personal use. (October-February,2003 -2004).