two dollars a month he ate the much money it would take to buy a gallon of paint it's friday morning and tom havens is dry the paint after school today to make the purchase his father gives him a five dollar bill a cris new five dollar bill that he received at the bank yesterday that particular piece of money is just starting in circulation what will happen to it what will it be used for what can money be used for is money anyway after school a five dollar bill goes to a hardware store where tom uses it the buy the paint this is one of the most common ways in which we all use money as a medium of exchange for goods tom exchanges a certain amount of money for a gallon of paint the clerk naturally accepts the money and he gives tom a smaller amount of money in chains and so the five dollar bill has found its way into this cash register but it doesn't stay long it's pretty used to pay mr kelly and the like for work he has just done in the store the store is not paying for wire or fixtures and special services this is another use for money and the medium of exchange for services as well as for good five dollar bill is moving fast that's because it's so convenient to use and business transactions in fact it's hard to imagine doing business without money yet for thousands of years people did get along without money in primitive days living was simple and each family produced whatever it needed the first kind of business was bought for a good stone cutter for instance might make a few extra tools and simply trade them for furs and other things they wanted it  was easy there was no need for money even today barter has its place not long ago tom havens got a spotlight for his bike by trading a catcher's mitt for it swapping like this works well between friends but what would you trade in the hardware store for a gallon of paint and how would the store owner get the plane and the other goods the cells what could he trade with all the people who had a hand in transporting the goods to his store what could he possibly swap with all the stockholders of the hundreds of factories the produce the goods how could he barter with every individual workman who played a part in the manufacture of each article no life today is too complex people are too dependent upon each other jobs are too highly specialized for us to do business by barter that's why we depend on money as a quick and easy medium of ex instead of doing a certain amount of electrical work in exchange for gasoline mr kelly pays for the gas with yes the same five dollar bill he received at the hardware store this convenience of modern money has evolved from an age old search for a satisfactory medium of exchange out of the simple barter of primitive peoples spearheads became one of the first articles used as money shells of also served as money one form was used by the american indians and hundreds of other articles  money to various people at various times but none of these met all the requirements of good money money should be something of value yet who were the huntsman has any use for spearheads the value should be obvious  money should be durable too much money i got caught in the rain out of such trying experiences gold and silver emerged as the most durable most convenient most satisfactory money for greater convenience man started stamping out gold and silver coins with values imprinted on them later governments took over the exclusive function of coining money because unscrupulous men began to cover cheap metal gold and silver plating so today in the united states any money is counterfeit and so worthless unless issued by the federal government and anyone who knowingly tries to spend counterfeit money may be fined a large amount and sent to jail the kinds we use are made and one of the three minutes of the united states treasury located in san francisco denver and philadelphia and from the bureau of engraving and printing in washington comes our paper money including of course the five dollar bill of the story there's represents the final stage in the evolution of modern money for a while metal cons are handy for dealing in small amounts of money when transactions require larger amounts of paper money is far more practical a five dollar bill for example is much easier to handle than say five dollars in dimes and just imagine buying something that costs  hundred dollars and paying for it with ten thousand cents so the values of the money we use every day are the values fixed by the government the paper bills and even the coins are not in themselves actually worth the amounts they represent their face values however are guaranteed not only by huge reserves of gold and silver but by the stability of the government which fixed those about as long as people remain confident that our government is strong secure they will continue freely to accept and spend its money without questioning the value as they have done with our five dollar bill which is now about to move again because mrs moore has come in to  is not money it is one kind of substitute for money it's value is guaranteed not by the government but by the person who signs it so the man at the filling station knows mrs moore he is willing to take her word that she has enough money in the i'll take them to you a very good looking man there's anywhere five dollars worth five dollars he has since the value of our money is fixed by the government we use it as a standard for measuring other values so money is not only a medium of exchange but also a standard of value at one o'clock saturday afternoon the five dollar bill is transferred from the cash register in the gift shop to the payroll open virginia hides the clerk who sold mrs moore the book ends and when miss hyde goes to spend the bill she learns how money sir i'm still another purpose they are to make another payment on your radio well yes but i see the price money serves as a standard for future payments a yardstick by which we measure the value of anything bought or sold to be paid for in the future but one of the five dollar bills it's adventures take a strange turn this radio shop is where tom havens works after school and on saturdays when he's finished his work for the we get five dollar bill as we have seen it could be the same five dollar bill his father gave him to buy the paper and where did his father get it from the bank and it's going back there promptly presents the five dollar bill in his savings account it deposits his money every week storing it up for his future needs this way he's using money as a storehouse of  value that's our five dollar bill has completed one round trip from the bank and tom first used it as a medium of exchange for goods mr kelley received it as a medium of exchange for services it was convenient for him to carry around the news for any business transaction and no one ever question that it was worth five dollars because its value has been fixed and guaranteed by the government when less is more made her purchase to use money as a standard of value and miss hyde found that money is also a standard of future payment when the bill returned to tom he used it as a storehouse of value now it's back in the bank but it will pass through many many more hands before it is worn out and withdrawn from circulation it may even go along with some world traveler who will soon exchange for an equal value of money other some other nations for modern money convenient to  easy to recognize and universally accepted for the value fixed by a stable government it is money which makes possible our complex international society business trade and travel