Since 9000 BC we’ve been exchanging things of value for items we need or want.
This system of bartering has evolved over time; from the Chinese with their bronze trinkets and the Indians with their cowrie shells to Italian gold florins and Swedish paper money.
Over the last few thousands of years, we’ve moved further and further away from passing around physical things of value to passing around promissory notes and well, not “passing” anything at all but instead relying on financial service providers to debit our account and credit another or vice versa.
Whether it’s cryptocurrencies or credit cards that deal the final blow to physical money remains to be seen, but one thing that’s for certain is 100 years from now, how we pay for things will likely look very different to today.
But how does physical money get disposed of? And why? Take a look at our infographic below to find out:
Update history
This page was revised 1 time in October 2021.
Expanded "Did You Know?" alert with information about cryptocurrency mining resources.