Badge 8: Money, Money, Money!

There are hundreds of active currencies in the world

Money makes the world go round

While that may be one of the more cynical quotes out there, the fact remains that money is the driving factor for most things in today’s society. Wars begin over money. Lives end over money. It is kind of a big deal.

Currency has been around for thousands of years. The first form of currency emerged in 2000 BCE. Metals were stamped to represent the value of stored commodities. This form of currency eventually made way in favour of the coinage system (First made of silver, then a combination of silver and gold, and now bronze and zinc).

Paper money emerged in a gradual process in pre-modern China. It began as a promissory note a vendor would give out in exchange for coins. By the 11^th century, paper money was being mass produced across the country.

Seeing as money makes the world go round, it seems fitting that my Sporcle Quest would feature a badge about money. This badge required me to achieve a 50% score on three quizzes.

1. People on U.S Currency

2. Currencies Replaced by the Euro

3. World Currency Matching

The "Loose Change" Badge

As a native of the Niagara region, I have had my fair share of contact with American money, so quiz #1 was no problem. Additionally, I had little trouble with quiz #2 as I was able to name the few currencies I did know (Franc, Drachma, Lira) to get over the threshold.

Matching the currencies to the countries (#3) was a taller order. I was only able to use my existing knowledge to nab seven or eight answers. The rest of the time I was trying to match the look of the word to the country (For example, I guessed that Yuan was the currency of China). This inefficient approach led to four tries at this quiz before I managed 50%. It was a tough day at the Badge Factory, but a new badge is mine either way.

Cha-Ching!!!