Penny Lane
Before ringgits, there were cowries.

Money didn’t always come in the form of bills and coins. Believe it or not, not so long ago people used things like rocks, teeth, spices, leather, pure gold, and cowries, which are seashells, to buy what they wanted.

It’s a lot easier to carry rectangles of paper or pieces of metal in your wallet. But when you travel from country to country, you might find that money, or currency, in some countries looks a lot different from the dollars and cents that you’re used to.

Like the US, most countries use bills and coins for currency nowadays rather than cowries or cinnamon. But that’s probably the biggest similarity you’ll find between another country’s currency and yours. Currencies come in all different shapes and sizes, and have different names. Take a look at the money I collected during my travels:

Ringgits from Malaysia
Euros from 12 countries in the European Union
Pounds from Great Britain
Naira from Nigeria
Yen from Japan
Rinds from Moneyland
Won from South Korea

Each type of currency also has its own value. So if someone hands you 1,166 won, don’t plan a long vacation to Investor Islands just yet — the value of 1,166 won is about equal to the value of one US dollar.