A thread of fun facts about money:

The idea that money evolved as a way to fix the limitations of barter is a myth. Historical evidence shows early societies relied on credit, debt, and social ties, not direct trade. So money likely evolved as a way to represent credit, not fix barter.

The word “money” comes from the Latin Moneta, an epithet for the Roman goddess Juno, whose temple was used for minting coins. Juno is also the name of my sister's dog.

The first coins were likely minted around 600 BCE in modern Turkey. You can also find them for sale for 5% the price of a floor cryptopunk.

The American dollar was named after the Spanish dollar, which was an official currency in the US until 1857. The word “dollar” traces back to the Bohemian “Joachimsthaler” coins, shortened to “thaler,” which became “dollar” in English.

The origin of the dollar sign $ is likely from combining PS for peso into a single symbol, but we aren't completely sure.

Most currencies are named after weights of precious metals, e.g. the British “pound” was originally a pound of silver, a "shekel" about 12 grams, and so on.

The word “salary” comes from salt, which was so valuable in Rome that soldiers were sometimes paid with it.