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For the Lore of Money


© Virginia Marin

Folklore Table of Contents

On January 1, 2003 as I looked back over the past three decades, I came face to face with the question of what, tangible or intangible, other than my religious beliefs, has been the greatest infuence on me over these years...

It would have to be money. READY MONEY. We can't live without it and many who have it, cannot live with it. Ready money is cash up front. It is money ready for immediate use. Cold, hard cash. No myth about that.

In 344 B.C., Lucius Furius built a temple which was dedicated to Juno Moneta. To this temple was attached the first Roman mint. The coins which were struck there were called moneta from whence comes our word money.

Greece and Rome struck coins which bore the imprints of their deities and festivals. But all cultures did not use struck coinage. Some used bartering for the exchange of goods. A few items popularly used for barter were shells, pearls, hides, beads, clothing, tobacco and alcohol. Anything of value to exchange served as payment. Bartering is still used today in some cultures.

Every country has unique and popular nicknames for their common coins and sums of money. In the United States of America a penny is a copper or a Red Indian; a nickel is 5 cents; a dime is 10 cents; a quarter, twenty-five cents or two bits; a half dollar is 50 cents or four bits; a silver dollar is a cartwheel or smacker; ten dollars is a sawbuck; one-hundred dollars is a century; five-hundred dollars a monkey and one-thousand dollars is a grand or a G.

One bit, two bits, six bits, a dollar
All for Wall Street, stand up and holler!

Prior to my marriage, I threw pennies in the trash can because I could see no use for them. My husband taught me that five pennies make a nickle. (Of course, I knew that). Instead of tossing coppers, I was forced to started saving them.

Money is funny. It takes money to make money. It also does strange things to people. Money for me says one thing--freedom. Money makes the mare go. One can do anything if only he has the money.

"Will you lend me your mare to go a mile?"
"No, she is lame leaping over a stile."
"But if you will her to me spare,
You shall have money for your mare."
"Oh ho! say you so?

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The copyright of the article For the Lore of Money in Folklore is owned by Larry Low. Permission to republish For the Lore of Money in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: View all related messages

10.   Apr 10, 2000 5:36 PM
And your happy little blue bird keeps singing. Honestly, I smile every time I see him.

-- posted by Dubh_Sidhe


9.   Apr 10, 2000 4:32 PM
Yiikes, I guess I'd better get Einstein in good working order again and put up with his quirks. The Stock Market I don't have to worry about, but if the price of trees drops, then I have to start wor ...

-- posted by Renie_Burghardt


8.   Apr 9, 2000 6:11 PM
But you will need a large stash of cash for the new WebTV. I understand they go for $3500. and that is before the printer. Bill Gates and WebTV got a love affair going and he did all sorts of nice t ...

-- posted by Dubh_Sidhe


7.   Apr 9, 2000 4:20 PM
you too, Christina? Einstein is still under warranty, too, otherwise I'd take a hammer to him!

Virginia, Web-TV is beginning to sound better and better to me! Ah, if I only had a large stash of cas ...


-- posted by Renie_Burghardt


6.   Apr 9, 2000 2:31 PM
Yeah, all car salesmen laugh all the way to the bank. I am typing on the keyboard of my trusty WebTV that cost about $350, oh, I guess maybe 4 years ago. It is immune to viruses, does not have a hard ...

-- posted by Dubh_Sidhe





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