They say money makes the world go round, but is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Well, money is a vital part of life for every person in the world, no matter what their age, ethnicity or gender. It can be a tremendous force for good, as well as a destructive force for bad. With money comes power, greed and most often jealously in one form or another. The main thing is to be balanced when it comes to your cash, neither hoarding it too much or being a spendthrift. On that note, we bring you 20 shocking facts about money that'll be of interest to everyone. And who knows, may even help you to make some more…

Origins

You might love brand new $100 bills, but money is nothing new. In fact, the first paper money was invented in China over 1,400 years ago, even though coins were invented before.

Cocaine Traces

It's a staggering statistic but consider the implications of the fact that roughly 90% of American dollar bills have traces of cocaine on them. Draw your own conclusions.

Monopoly Money

Money is printed by mints across the world, but little did you know that more money for the board game Monopoly is printed per year that real money.

Counterfeit Cash

There is a bunch of counterfeit cash around the world, but you might be interested to know that the biggest counterfeiter of US currency in the world is North Korea.

Cloth Cash

You may have always assumed that dollars were made out of some sort of toughened paper, while in fact they are actually made from a special type of cloth.

Zinc Coins

Coins over the centuries have been made from a wide variety of different compounds, mainly metal ones, but not aways. However, these days coins in most countries contain 95% of zinc.

Stitch Up

It's an interesting fact that in the 1800s, people would repair torn bank notes with a special needle and thread. After all, it was made of cloth and still is.

Good Copies

Counterfeiters work so hard to make their dollars look real that sometimes they make them look too real, and even more real than true dollar bills!

Money Can't Buy…

He was a music legend in his life, and was also known to be a deep and philosophical chap. Interestingly, Bob's last words before he died were, "Money can't buy life."

$1 Million A Day

Some people are rich, really rich and Bill Gates is one such person. It's a fact that even if he spent a cool $1 million each and every day, it would take 218 years for him to spend his fortune!

Tea Money

No, we don't mean the money that British kids take to school for recess. Up until just 60 years ago, bricks of tea were used as legal currency in Siberia and Asia.

Seashells

As well as commodities like tea, seashells were in fact used as money in many parts of the world, especially around the Mediterranean.

Foreign Interests

It's actually scary to consider that a massive 66% of all US cash in circulation is held outside of the USA, either by foreign governments or by private business people.

Spent On Interest

Interest is a big deal, and is something that makes banks a lot of money from a lot of people. In fact, more than 34% of America's income is spent exclusively on interest for mortgages and credit card balances.

Dirty Cash

In this case we mean dirty cash literally, as dollar bills can hold viruses like the flu for at least two weeks! So beware when handling other people's cash, even if it's yours now.

Money Troubles

It's a shocking fact, although we doubt very much you'll be shocked at all to read that disputes over money are the number one reason for divorce in America.

Tough Times

In recent years, the average American has suffered economically. Sadly, it's estimated that roughly 50% of Americans are unable to come up with a few hundred dollars in an emergency without taking a high interest loan.

Copper Pennies

The very first pennies ever to be produced and distributed in America were made of 100% copper.

More Dirty Cash

As if traces of cocaine and the flue virus weren't bad enough, the Southern Medical Journal found in a study that 94% of all paper money in America had some amount of fecal matter on it!

The First Credit Card

It's an interesting fact that the first credit card which could be used in a variety of places was invented by a man called Frank McNamara. He invented the concept of a credit card when he forgot his wallet when out for dinner.