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When is a mint not a mint? Are nickels really made from nickel? And just where does our money come from, anyway? For all you financial factoid fanatics out there, this page is for you.

Factoid 1: No bones about it.

Long before people had official paper money and coins, they used things like leather, beads, salt, seeds, tea, sea shells and dog's teeth. Animals were traded too, including cows, sheep, and even dead rats. One group of people actually traded with human heads! No thanks, keep the change.

Factoid 2: Another one bites the dust.

If you think change is out of control today, think again. During our 200+ year history, the United States has produced a half-cent coin, a two-cent coin, a three-cent coin and a twenty-cent coin.

Factoid 3: Big money.

The lightest money ever used was made of feathers and was used on the Pacific Island of Santa Cruz. The heaviest money ever used was made of stone and used on another Pacific Island called Yap. These stones were 12 feet tall and weighed more than 500 pounds.

Factoid 4: You're benched.

Around the tenth century, Italians began conducting their financial business outside on street benches. "Banca" is the Italian word for bench, which has since been altered slightly to give us the word "bank."

Factoid 5: One in a million.

If you laid one million $1 bills end to end, they would stretch from Portland to Seattle. If you laid one billion $1 bills end to end, they would circle the earth nearly four times. If you laid one trillion $1 bills end to end, they would stretch to the moon and back more than 200 times.