Hey, Story Pirates podcast listeners. We have a very special treat for you today.
Our friends at Million Bazillion are sharing a really fun episode of their podcast with us.
On a trip to Washington, D.C., Bridget and Ryan discover why there are so many different currencies in the world, like the Mexican peso, Japanese yen, and the U.S. dollar.
As they make their way through the city, they even run into the ghost of Alexander Hamilton, who has an important money lesson to share through songs.
If you'd like to hear more from Million Bazillion, you can find them anywhere you listen to podcasts.
Hope you enjoy the episode. Here we are in Washington, D.C., our nation's capital.
Thanks so much for bringing me along on this trip that you won on that radio trivia contest.
Oh, don't mention it. I'm glad knowing all the American presidents in order finally paid off.
George Washington was the first prince. John Adams is known as the second prince.
Thomas Jefferson... Oh, look! Here we are at the Lincoln Memorial.
Imagine if this big Lincoln statue could talk.
I wonder what it would say. Remember, a government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Wow, such inspiring words. And hey, look, it's the Washington Monument.
I wonder what this magnificent obelisk would say if it could talk.
Um, why am I just a big stick made out of stone?
Huh? Yeah, you heard me. Why does Lincoln get a big monument that looks exactly like him, but Washington gets me?
A gray column with a pointy top. What am I even supposed to look like?
A pencil? Did Washington really like pencils?
Um, I don't think so. I think you're just supposed to be, like, a tall, impressive structure.
I mean, maybe I'm supposed to be, like, a finger pointing up, like, number one for number one president.
I don't think that's it. Oh, no, no, I got it, I got it.
When you think about it, I think what I really look like is sort of like a... Hold on a minute, Washington Monument.
We gotta start the show. The End You're listening to Million Bazillion.
I'm Ryan. And I'm Bridget. And we help dollars make more sense.
Let's hear today's question. I'm Oliver from Illinois.
My question is, why do different countries use different money?
Really interesting question, Oliver. And it's true.
Most countries have their own unique type of currency.
Currency. That's another word for money that you're going to hear a lot in this episode.
Currency. Currency. Countries usually want you to use their money or currency if you're in that country.
Like in Japan, they use the Japanese yen.
And in India, they use the rupee. You know, this is actually a perfect question for us to answer while we're here in D.C., the place where a lot of money decisions in this country are made.
Oh, hey, hey, I figured it out. I think I figured it out.
Oh, Washington Monument, you're back. You know how Washington had wooden teeth?
Maybe I am a tooth, like a big tooth. Long, sharp tooth.
I think you nailed it. Okay, let's go to another part of the city far away from the Washington Monument.
Good idea. We'll be right back after this.
And now it's time for Asking Random Kids Not-So-Random Questions.
Today's question is, why do you think money exists?
So... In old times, we would trade. So you can buy stuff without bartering and not carry a bunch of heavy stuff.
What if someone didn't want that thing? So we can spend it.
To make things fair. Um, well, to buy stuff because people need it and the king of coins created coins.
Because if you don't have money, you can't buy anything to live.
You would just be naked and walking around with stuff.
So people can buy stuff. Well, so people can buy what they want or need.
It would hurt your feet by the time you got the thing you needed.
That was Nora and Connor from St. Louis, Alan from Missouri, Mickey and Joshua from Denver, Elliot from Saudi Arabia, Aaron and Roman from New York City, Josephine and Isabel from Los Angeles, and William from Pittstown, New Jersey.
This has been Asking Random Kids, Not-So-Random Questions.
Welcome back. We are here at the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.
This is part of a bunch of museums created by the U.S. government to keep and display important historical pieces.
And they do research and like a bunch of fun learning stuff here.
And they also have this huge money collection.
Hey, Bridget, I just bought us some tri-corner hats.
So we'll look like old timey people. Look at me.
I look like Paul Revere in this hat. A great look for me.
Put yours on. I'm not sure a felt triangle on my head is my best look.
Do we have to? No, no. I did just spend $57 on these hats, but you don't have to wear yours.
Okay, fine. Give me the hat. All right, so we're here to find some answers to Oliver's question.
Why do different countries use different money?
And the person I immediately thought of talking to is Ellen Feingold.
Regular listeners will remember her. She is the curator of the National Numismatic Collection here at the Smithsonian.
Numismatic is a fancy word for money and currency, right?
Exactly right, Ryan. Okay, there she is.
Hi, Ellen. Hi, Bridget. Hi, Ryan. I like the hats.
Okay, well, let's just get to it. Okay, so our listener Oliver sent in this question.
Why do different countries use different currency?
That's a great question. He actually was inspired by your last Million Bazillion episode, Ellen, when we talked about the way Canadian and American money just looks different.
So what do you think? How would you answer this?
So each country has the opportunity on their banknotes and their coins to tell their own story.
Tell a story through money? What do you mean by that?
One example of that is in Guatemala. Here, let's just bring up a picture of what money looks like in Guatemala.
Ryan, can you describe it? Okay, so these bills are really colorful, and there are different people featured on one side, and there's other scenes on the other side.
All seems to be very historical. Also, they all have this bird flying across with this very long flowing set of tail feathers.
The bird is called a resplendent quetzal, and the currency is actually called the quetzal after that bird.
The reason for this is because historically that bird's tail feathers were used as currency among indigenous communities there.
And so the use of the image of that bird, its tail feathers, and the naming of the currency is part of how the Guatemalan government shares and remembers, commemorates their national history.
Okay, so awesome to have this physical thing that helps tell the story of your country and its people and its history, but There's got to be another reason why countries go through the trouble of making their own money, right?
Money is also a really important symbol and signal of national sovereignty.
Ooh, sovereignty. That's a fun word. It means when a country gets to be its own boss.
Ryan, you really studied up on all these new words we're using.
Awesome. Having the power to issue your own currency is a really important part of being a nation.
And it says we are in control of ourselves and we have our own money.
We don't need to rely on another country.
We also don't have the interference of another country in our national economy.
This is kind of like what happened in the U.S.
We used to use the British pound, but then we didn't want to anymore, so we made up our own system.
The Constitution actually says that in the United States, this country has the power to create a mint and make our own coins, and this was a big step away from being colonies and under the control of Great Britain, where we would have been required to put the monarch on our coins, and we would have had another country or another place controlling not just the way our money looks, but also how much of it we can have and what denominations it's made in.
So this is a big part of national independence, controlling your own economy and deciding for yourself what you want to see on your money.
So this is like basically the country's version of being able to say, my room, my rules, my country, my money, yeah?
But we're all friends here now. Why not just have everyone use the same currency?
Like it would make traveling from one country to the other so much easier.
This is such a great question, because it's nice to imagine what that might look like.
I'm feeling a butt coming on. But we can explore together also what some of the challenges to that might be.
Money is a way that countries say, we're in charge of our own money.
So if countries all gave up that power, they would lose some political and economic independence that comes along with having your own currency.
So we all have to agree globally on what our money should look like.
When would there be too many banknotes in circulation?
Or what would we do if there wasn't enough?
I'm starting to think she doesn't think we're going to get a global currency.
Creating a global currency would require a global consensus, a global agreement.
And there are many things that we wish we had global agreement about.
For example, some of the crises with the climate and other important global issues.
But we haven't been able to come to agreement on those things.
So it is hard to imagine a global agreement around currency.
Yeah, I don't think you could get all the countries to agree on how to spell currency.
Well, thanks for spitballing that with us.
Yeah, we really appreciate your help. I think maybe we're going to go look around the rest of the museum now.
And kids, welcome to the Smithsonian's tour of our permanent money exhibit, The Value of Money.
We've got a special display out now about the history of money in Ukraine.
Hey, can we tag along on this tour? Wait, are we allowed?
We're not with this group. This is an institution of learning, Bridget.
Why would they deny us sweet knowledge? Hey, you two in the tri-corner hats.
I didn't see you two pay to get into this special exhibit.
Did you just sneak in with this field trip group?
Um, we're not people. We're museum exhibits come to life.
What are you doing? Just play along. Ooh, living exhibits, huh?
Like night at the museum. Yes. Like Night in the Museum.
I don't think your museum exhibits come to life at all.
I think you stuck into this exhibit and are just pretending to be exhibits come to life.
No, we're not real people. We're British.
British people are real people. Oi! Let's run!
Yes, let's escape and we'll be right back.
Cheerio, chappies! I can't stop rolling perfect skee-balls.
You know, some people are built for b-ball, and some are built for skee-ball, and I'm built for skee-ball.
Okay, so today, while on a trip in Washington, D.C., we're trying to answer Oliver's question, why do different countries use different currencies?
We were chased out of the Smithsonian Museum and have currently stopped for lunch at Bobo's Pizza, one of D.C.'
's favorite arcade eateries. Hey, Bridget, Bridget, Bridget, Bridget, Bridget!
I just won 200 Bobo's prize tickets! That's enough to buy a big stuffed doll of Bobo the Possum at the prize counter!
Hey, you know, when you think about it, those prize tickets are a kind of currency too, don't you think?
Hmm, how do you mean? Okay, well, you've been winning all these Bobo's prize tickets, which can be used for... Oh, to buy things from the Bobo's Pizza prize counter.
They've got everything. T-shirts, Frisbees, a personal size light-up disco ball.
Right, and Bobo's decides how many tickets you get when you win a game.
They control how many tickets there are, basically.
Yeah. And can you use those prize tickets anywhere else?
Sadly, no. Right, so it's a kind of currency that can only be spent in this one pizza parlor.
And Bobo's probably doesn't accept tickets from like any rival pizza shops.
No, I tried that and they actually laughed in my face.
Hmm. So it's kind of like Bobo's Pizza made their own little currency.
Yeah. And everyone here is happy to get those Bobo's tickets because they know they can use them at the Bobo's prize counter.
They trust that Bobo's will honor the tickets, that the prizes are going to be good ones.
That's just kind of like money in the real world.
And anyone can make a currency of their own?
I think it's a pretty complicated process, actually.
I mean, we were talking about this. I think a light bulb just turned on in my head.
I should make a currency of my own. No, no, I am not saying that at all.
Too late! I've just hatched the perfect plan.
We break into the U.S. Mint, and I add my own currency design to one of the presses.
If I can make a real looking currency, I can start my life anew in a sovereign state of my own.
My pocket's stuffed with rye and bucks. I sketched out the design of my currency on this grease-stained napkin.
My dollar features me looking wisely into the middle distance with huge biceps that I'm working on getting, high-fiving Abraham Lincoln and Benjamin Franklin.
And look, you're on the dollar too, Bridget, cheering us on from atop that creepy pyramid with the eyeball that's on the regular dollar.
So, wait, wait, go back. You want to sneak into the U.S.
Mint so you can smuggle a new currency in?
Yes, that's an excellent way to put it. Doesn't even sound like a crime when you put it that way.
Well, first of all, there are a few issues with your plan.
A, they print paper money at the Bureau of Printing and Engraving, not the Mint.
Okay, whatever, we'll go to whichever one prints the money.
And B, you're definitely going to get caught.
It's worth the risk. I want to break free of this American currency I can never seem to earn enough of.
It's time to take a big risk. And even though my plan may be bad, it can't be worse than crypto.
You might have a point. So tonight, I'm sneaking in.
What do you say? You want to help me? Okay, if you try to do this by yourself, you are definitely going to get caught.
So I better go with you. Okay, we're here at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
We've made it past security and onto the floor of the big money press, where our reversed heist is about to go down.
Okay, why do I let you talk me into these things?
Now I'll just stop the presses and add my own design here.
Bridget, you keep a lookout while I sneak my engraving onto the press.
And it's all set. And they say there's no such thing as a license to print money.
All I have to do is pull this lever and... Wait!
Don't do it! Who are you? I'm Alexander Hamilton. the first United States Secretary of the Treasury.
Alexander Hamilton? But didn't you die centuries ago?
I'm the ghost of Alexander Hamilton, and I live here at the Bureau.
But I can only come out at night. Wow, this is like the night at the museum thing we were pretending to do, but for actual real real.
Wait, how do we know he's a real ghost? Look, my hand goes right through him.
Oh, stop that, it tickles. Ow, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
I can't believe we're talking to Ghost Hamilton, one of our greatest American presidents.
Hamilton was never a president. Oh, picky, picky.
What? Knowing how the presidents is how we won this trip.
I appreciate your hustle, young man, but you don't know the first thing about starting your own currency. believe me i was one of the people who helped create the american system of currency well then you're the perfect ghost to give me advice then you can't just make up a currency celebrating yourself for your own profit you have to have a reason to do it it has to do with a country wanting to be able to make its own decisions control its own destiny because money is a type of power You know what?
I think this is a lesson best conveyed through a song.
You really mean that, Ghost Alexander Hamilton?
Are you going to rap for us? Why do people keep asking me to rap?
I don't even know what rap is. When I say song, I mean I'm going to play a little polka dilly.
Oh, no. When America was starting out, tried to shape its destiny, we didn't want to use the British Pound, so we made our own currency.
I wanted that currency centralized through a stable American bank called the First Bank of the United States, and for that bank you have me to thank.
Not everyone was a fan of my plan, including Thomas Jefferson.
He thought the bank would be a monopoly, but eventually my plan won.
Then in 1792 the Coinage Act was passed, creating the U.S. dollar, and the dollar caught on fast.
With that dollar, we could pay our debts and establish our independence and create a sustainable economy for our eventual descendants.
Okay, well, this has been an informative polka, but we should get going.
But wait, I'm not done with the song. Really, I could listen to polka music all day, but Bridget's right, we should scram.
Now grab a wad of paper cash and tell me what you see.
On the single you'll see Washington, on the ten spot you'll see me.
Wee! My polka song is almost done, I sang it just for you.
With any luck, I'll sing it one day in a huge Broadway review.
I can't wait to sing it one day in a huge Broadway review.
Woo! So what do y'all think? Can't you just imagine that song being a huge Broadway hit?
Oh, yeah. Broadway is really tough. You could take it around town.
Get more feedback. More feedback. Maybe if you workshopped it some more.
Yes. You know, just get more opinions. Get more eyes.
More ears on it. More ears on that would be really good.
Okay. Cool. Cool. It's not final, by the way.
I'm still toying with it. Wow, so I guess it was kind of a big deal when America said they wanted their own money and put so much work into creating it.
Maybe it's more important than something I should manipulate for my own gain.
Freeze right there. Don't move. Oh no, it's security.
Ah, right when I was starting to learn my lesson.
I was this close to walking away without getting caught.
You can still escape. Just make a run for it.
Through that door, to your left. Wait, my left or Bridget's left?
Bridget's left. Who on earth are you talking to?
The ghost of Alexander Hamilton. You mean you can't see him?
Only those truly curious about currency can see me.
Is that how ghosts work? That's how Hamilton ghosts work.
Just run. This way. Right behind you. I think we made it.
Wait, I need to go back in. I left my currency design in there.
Ryan, we don't have time for that. Let's just keep running until they can't find us.
Okay, fine. We'll keep running and be right back after this.
Hello, I'm Ellie from Novi, Michigan, and I've got a money joke for you.
What has a hundred heads and a hundred tails?
Give up a hundred pennies. If you have a money joke that you'd like to share, email millionbazillion at marketplace.org.
Thanks. Well, here we are at our final stop on our trip to D.C., the Pool of Reflection, reflecting on our mistakes.
We've been banned from pretty much all of D.C.'
's historical buildings, but I do think we learned the answer to Oliver's question about why different countries have their own money.
So true. Countries want to have their own currencies because they want to be able to make decisions about their own economies.
Having a currency that works really well for the people there is one way that a country tells the world how awesome it is.
It's probably harder to start your own currency than slipping a few of your personally designed bills into the money supply.
And that's probably a good thing. For people to use a country's money, they have to trust it.
And don't forget, countries like to make their money look pretty and include pictures of things that are important to them.
It's like a way to tell the rest of the world what you're all about and about your history without saying a single word or singing a single note.
And if you want to learn more about currencies and why they exist, you might want to check out the very first episode of Million Bazillion, season one, episode one, where we got into all of that.
If you have more questions about the many currencies of the world, send them to us through our website, marketplace.org slash million.
Hey, speaking of currency, look what I got in my pocket.
Two Bobo's game tokens. Oh, I've got an idea.
Want to make a wish and then throw them into the pool of reflection?
Good idea. I wish... Wait! You're not supposed to say your wish out loud.
Oh, that's right. Hey, you ever think what the pool of reflection would say if it could talk?
Hey, you're not supposed to throw coins in there.
Oh, whoops. Sorry. I'll take the tokens out.
One second. I'm just going to reach in here.
Watch your footing, Ryan. Okay, I think I'm done with DC for a while.
Oh. Thanks for listening to this episode of Million Bazillion.
If you want to know more about different currencies, check out the tip sheet for this episode at our website, marketplace.org slash million.
You can also sign up for our newsletter while you're there and get next week's episode delivered straight to your email inbox.
We're going to answer a bunch of the questions that listeners sent us.
I am so excited for it. Million Bazillion is brought to you by Marketplace from American Public Media.
This episode was written and hosted by me, Ryan Perez.
Bridget Bodner is the senior producer and co-host.
And thank you to the voicing talent of Kimberly Adams, Sabree Benashor, Emily McCune, Mel Rosenberg, and Julian Stern.
Special thanks to Ellen Feingold at the Smithsonian for her help answering Oliver's questions.
Million Bazillion's producer is Marissa Cabrera.
Jasmine Romero is our editor. Chris Julin is our sound designer.
Becca Weinman mixed this episode. And our theme music was created by Wonderly.
Bridget Bodner is the director of podcasts at Marketplace.
Francesca Levy is the executive director of digital.
Neil Scarborough is the VP and general manager.
Million Bazillion is funded in part by the Cy Sims Foundation, partnering with organizations and people working for a better and more just future since 1985.
And special thanks to the Ranzetta Family Charitable Fund and NextGen Personal Finance for providing the startup funding for this podcast and continuing to support Marketplace in our work to make younger audiences smarter about the economy.
If Million Bazillion is helping your family have important conversations about money, consider making a one-time donation today at marketplace.org slash givemillion.
And thanks for your support.
