"Money - in the traditional sense no longer exists. It died two decades ago when Richard Nixon forever abolished the gold standard. Since then, money as we once knew it has been replaced by an unstable new global medium of exchange that is called 'megabyte money'... megabyte money is a threat not only to our country's long-term growth and prosperity, but to the individual as well."

- Joel Kurtzman, The Death Of Money, 1993

Economy when it was first started was a seedling in a field. Poor and helpless to the environment. As this seedling grows, it becomes stronger and greater as a whole. The great Red Oak that the we as mankind has let it grow up to be is one of the greatest powers driving this planet. This Tree has become the nation's immense forest and the forest keeps on growing with no end in sight. The thing that makes the economic tree so great, is currency. As America moves into the twenty firsts century at a rapid pace, the currency and economy is moving right along with it. As technology advances more and more the way that Americans pay for things has also changed. Americans are carrying less and less cash to the stores, but more credit cards

Some people did not like the idea of spending money that they do not have. So a check card was invented. This kind of card can be used exactly like a credit card, but it would withdraw from the checking account. The check card would only allow a person to spend as much as they had. This allowed many to just have one kind of payment and allow for less or no cash to be carried. To make these cards even safer some have put their picture ID on the cards.

The next thing that came out was the credit card. A credit card is a card that had all your account information on a credit card. This was a system of network computers that was hooked up nation wide. When an item was needed to be purchased, all that was needed to be done was to slide your card through a credit card machine. This would send the information that was on the account to the network. Then the feedback would come back, to see if the credit card was approved. Finally all that is needed to de done is to sign the receipt. This was beneficial because it was convenient and easy to use. A credit card was also hooked up to a network of computers. This made it harder to steal because when a person found it lost, they could just deactivate the card. Probably the most beneficial factor was that monthly payments can be made. This allowed for people to spend, and only have to pay a little back at a time.

A test program is already in effect in the United States military. This program is designed to test if a cashless society would actually work. In Parris training base in South Carolina recruits are receiving smart cards, rather than cash. " On payday, recruits receive smart cards rather than cash. When a marine makes a purchase on base, he plugs the card into a small terminal and the sum is automatically deducted from his pay." Newsweek says, "THE BASE IN FACT, A CASHLESS ECONOMY- even telephones take smart cards."

identification in force at that time, no mintmarks was used. Mintmarks were proof of where the coins were made. Proof coin operations were moved from the Philadelphia Mint to San Francisco in 1968, and the letter "S" identifies that special numismatic coinage. The coinage Act of 1965 prohibited the use of mintmarks for a period of five years. This, together with the date freeze, eliminated distinguishing features on our coins which could tend to cause their removal from circulation during a critical period when the Mint was striving to build up coin inventories. No mintmarks appear on coins dated 1965, 1966, and 1967. Congressional authorization permitted resumption of the practice in 1968, at which time the mint marks, usually positioned on the reverse of the coins prior to 1968, were permanently relocated on the obverse or date side.

About one thousand BC the first coined money was invented. They were bronze and copper cowrie imitations were manufactured by China at the end of the Stone Age and could be considered some of the earliest forms of metal coins. Metal tool money, such as knife and spade monies, was also first used in China. These early metal monies developed into primitive versions of round coins. Chinese coins were made out of base metals, often containing holes so they could be put together like a chain. Outside of China, the first coins developed out of lumps of silver. By 500 BC the modern coin came around. They took the familiar round form of today, and were stamped with various gods and emperors to mark their authenticity. These early coins first appeared in Lydia, which is part of present-day Turkey, but the techniques were quickly copied and further refined by the Greek, Persian, Macedonian, and later the Roman empires. Unlike Chinese coins, which depended on base metals, these new coins were made from precious metals such as silver, bronze, and gold, which had more inherent value.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Susan Anthony, Red Oak, San Francisco, Japan Europe, Stone Age, Inside UPC, China China, Standard Act, Bio-Chip ET, York City, credit card, cashless society, smart cards, bank notes, gold standard, economic tree, chinese coins, credit cards, smart card, base metals, china metal monies, metal monies developed, knife spade monies, spade monies china, monies china metal,
Approximate Word count = 2886
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page double spaced)