100+ Money Trivia Questions & Answers

Question: What ancient civilization is credited with minting the first stamped coins in currency history?

Answer: Lydia

Question: What material were the first Lydian coins made from in ancient money systems?

Answer: Electrum

Question: What temple in Rome was associated with coin minting in the early currency world?

Answer: Temple of Juno Moneta

Question: What Latin word is the root of the English word “money”?

Answer: Moneta

Question: Who described the Lydians as the first to use coins in the ancient world?

Answer: Herodotus

Question: When were the first stamped coins minted in Lydia's currency system?

Answer: Around 650 to 600 BC

Question: What item served as a unit of weight in Mesopotamian money?

Answer: Barley

Question: What is the earliest known usage of the term "shekel" in currency history?

Answer: Mesopotamia circa 3000 BC

Question: What shells were commonly used as real money across many cultures?

Answer: Cowry shells

Question: What economic system existed in societies before money was used?

Answer: Gift economy

Question: What is the oldest known coin denomination from Lydia?

Answer: One-third stater

Question: In what Chinese dynasty did paper money first appear?

Answer: Song Dynasty

Question: What were early Chinese promissory notes called?

Answer: Jiaozi

Question: Which explorer described paper money in the Yuan Dynasty?

Answer: Marco Polo

Question: What did Marco Polo say was used to make paper currency in China?

Answer: Bark of trees

Question: What bank issued the first European banknotes in the world?

Answer: Stockholms Banco

Question: What commodity was abundant in Sweden, leading to the use of paper currency?

Answer: Copper

Question: What global event led many countries to adopt the gold standard for their currency?

Answer: World War II

Question: What 1944 conference shaped the world’s postwar currency systems?

Answer: Bretton Woods Conference

Question: What was the United States dollar pegged to before 1971?

Answer: Gold

Question: What function of money allows it to facilitate trade between parties?

Answer: Medium of exchange

Question: What function of money enables price comparison across goods and services?

Answer: Unit of account

Question: What function of money allows it to be saved and used in the future?

Answer: Store of value

Question: What is the fourth function of money sometimes listed in older texts?

Answer: Standard of deferred payment

Question: What rhyme summarizes the four functions of money according to Jevons?

Answer: Money's a matter of functions four, A Medium, a Measure, a Standard, a Store

Question: What is the main problem with barter that money solves?

Answer: Lack of coincidence of wants

Question: What economist analyzed the four functions of money in 1875?

Answer: William Stanley Jevons

Question: What term refers to money’s ability to be divided into smaller parts?

Answer: Divisibility

Question: What term describes money's ability to withstand repeated use?

Answer: Durability

Question: What term describes the requirement for money to be widely accepted?

Answer: Acceptability

Question: What characteristic of money makes it interchangeable with others of the same type?

Answer: Fungibility

Question: What function does money fulfill when used to pay off a debt later?

Answer: Standard of deferred payment

Question: What term describes money's ability to be carried around easily?

Answer: Portability

Question: What property of money limits inflation and ensures value?

Answer: Scarcity

Question: What function of money allows accounting systems to operate efficiently?

Answer: Unit of account

Question: What problem arises when money as a store of value conflicts with spending?

Answer: Circulation is hindered

Question: What does inflation do to the store of value function of money?

Answer: Diminishes it

Question: What is a more general term for all liquid financial instruments?

Answer: Financial capital

Question: What happens to the real value of debt during deflation?

Answer: It increases

Question: What happens to money's value when inflation rises?

Answer: It decreases

Question: What type of money is declared legal tender by the government without intrinsic value?

Answer: Fiat money

Question: What type of money is backed by a commodity but not made of it?

Answer: Representative money

Question: What type of money has value based on the commodity it is made from?

Answer: Commodity money

Question: What are examples of commodity money historically used?

Answer: Gold, silver, barley, shells

Question: What is base money, also known as M0?

Answer: Currency plus central bank deposits

Question: What aggregate includes M1 and savings accounts?

Answer: M2

Question: What money type includes large institutional time deposits?

Answer: M3

Question: What does the M1 monetary aggregate include?

Answer: Currency and demand deposits

Question: What is the main component of broad money in developed countries?

Answer: Bank money

Question: Who creates bank money by issuing loans?

Answer: Commercial banks

Question: What process allows banks to create money by issuing loans?

Answer: Fractional-reserve banking

Question: What distinguishes bank money from fiat and commodity money?

Answer: It is non-physical and exists digitally

Question: What theory explains how base money supports broad money creation?

Answer: Money multiplier theory

Question: What form of money did the Federal Reserve replace when switching to electronic in the 1990s?

Answer: Paper currency transfers

Question: What is the most liquid form of asset in any economy?

Answer: Money

Question: What system did many countries adopt after suspending gold convertibility?

Answer: Fiat currency system

Question: What causes a currency to be fiat?

Answer: Government declaration without commodity backing

Question: What year did the U.S. suspend dollar convertibility into gold?

Answer: 1971

Question: What European country first issued banknotes in 1661?

Answer: Sweden

Question: What term describes money stored on digital systems?

Answer: Digital or electronic money

Question: What is the currency of Thailand?

Answer: Baht

Question: What is the official currency of El Salvador, alongside Bitcoin?

Answer: U.S. Dollar

Question: What is the currency of Guatemala?

Answer: Quetzal

Question: What is the currency used in Botswana?

Answer: Pula

Question: What is the term for the euro-pegged currency in West Africa?

Answer: CFA franc

Question: What is the official currency of Japan?

Answer: Yen

Question: What country uses the ringgit as its currency?

Answer: Malaysia

Question: What is the primary currency of China?

Answer: Yuan

Question: What is the national currency of South Korea?

Answer: Won

Question: What is the currency of Vietnam?

Answer: Dong

Question: What is the name of the Israeli currency?

Answer: Shekel

Question: What is the currency of Nigeria?

Answer: Naira

Question: What is the currency of South Africa?

Answer: Rand

Question: What is the currency of the European Union?

Answer: Euro

Question: What is the national currency of India?

Answer: Rupee

Question: What African country uses the kwacha?

Answer: Zambia

Question: What is the currency of Iran?

Answer: Rial

Question: What is the currency of Switzerland?

Answer: Swiss franc

Question: What is the primary currency of the Philippines?

Answer: Peso

Question: What is the currency of Russia?

Answer: Ruble

Question: What is the Indonesian country's currency ?

Answer: Rupiah

Question: What anonymous digital currency concept emerged in 2008?

Answer: Bitcoin

Question: What material is used to make a typical U S dollar bill?

Answer: 25% linen and 75% cotton

Question: What organization is responsible for printing U S currency?

Answer: The Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Question: Which Founding Father has appeared on the U.S. $100 bill?

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Question: What year did the U.S. begin replacing gold with paper currency as legal tender?

Answer: 1971

Question: What term describes prepaid digital or physical monetary value often used in popular stores?

Answer: Gift cards

Question: Which economic phenomenon causes prices to rise, affecting both the poor and the richest people alike?

Answer: Inflation

Question: What type of paper currency was introduced in the U.S. during the Civil War to finance military spending?

Answer: Greenbacks

Question: What economic term refers to the value of one country’s currency in relation to another?

Answer: Exchange rates

Question: What type of U.S. currency was once redeemable for a specific amount of gold?

Answer: Gold certificate

Question: Which historical currency influenced the development of the U.S. dollar sign ($)?

Answer: Spanish peso

Question: Which currency became the dominant reserve currency worldwide after the Bretton Woods Conference?

Answer: U S dollar

Question: Which financial services company is known for issuing credit cards and traveler’s checks, not paper money?

Answer: American Express

Question: What term refers to the legal tender designated for use in a specific nation?

Answer: Country’s currency

Question: In what type of locations are digital currencies and gift cards increasingly accepted as payment?

Answer: Popular stores

Question: What color of ink is traditionally used to print U S paper currency?

Answer: Green ink

Question: What term describes the total amount of currency and deposits available in an economy?

Answer: Money supply

Question: What is the face value of the smallest denomination U S coin?

Answer: 1 cent

Question: What type of money system replaced gold-backed currency in recent years?

Answer: Fiat currency