A Brief History of Trust: teacher key

Money, grade 12 edition, written for 12th grade and up. From stamped lumps of electrum to engraved steel plates, money works because people trust it. Read how coins, paper receipts, gold, the euro and today's bills earned that trust.

Read the book. Print this page for the key.

Questions and answers

1. What did stamping a lump of metal change about it?
   • It gave the metal new value
   • It let people trust the mark instead of re-weighing and re-testing the lump (answer)
   • It made the metal pure gold
2. How did paper money begin in China?
   • Foreign traders brought it
   • Cowries ran out
   • Merchants traded receipts from deposit shops instead of carrying heavy strings of coins (answer)
3. What did the Continental Congress's paper money lead to?
   • The phrase "not worth a Continental" (answer)
   • The first mint
   • The Mint Act
4. What happened in August 1971?
   • The euro began
   • The U.S. ended the dollar's convertibility to gold (answer)
   • The Fed was created
5. Which pair did Lydia and China each add to money?
   • Euros and dollars
   • Shells and stones
   • Government-issued coins and government-issued paper money (answer)
6. What does U.S. money rest on today?
   • People's trust: the money system is based on confidence (answer)
   • A gold backing
   • A law that bans cash

Words

• croesids: early Lydian coins
• intaglio: engraved printing
• convertibility: ability to swap
• numismatic: about coins
• monopoly: sole control