I want something you have, and you want something I have. Sometimes I give you money. Sometimes you give me money. It can be metal money. It can be paper money.
What kind of money did people have long ago? Some people used stones as money. Others used feathers. Many people used animals. Later, gold came into use as money.
Some men thought of making metals in special shapes( 形状 ). Each special shapes would be worth something different. In some places, people shaped the gold to look like animals. They were still thinking of animals as money. Other metals were used, too. The metals could come in any shape. Gold dust( 粉 )was money. Gold bars(棒 )were money, too.
Today, different countries have different names of money. In the U.S.A, they call the smallest unit of money a “cent”. The English call it a “penny”. The Spanish people call it a “centavo”.

你的东西我想要，我的东西你想要；有时我给你钱，有时却是你给我钱，给的可能是硬币或者是钞票。

很久以前人们的钱是什么样呢？有人用石头当钱，有时用羽毛作钞票，很多人用动物当钱作。后来，金子成了钱。

有的人想出一个办法，把金属铸成特殊形状，不同的形状表示钱的价值的不同。在有的地方，人们把金子铸成动物模样，这是还是把动物当作钱用的人群。还有别的金属也有用作钱的。金属的钱币可能有各种不同的形状。金粉也能当钱用，金条也一样。

现在不同的国家有不同的货币名称。美国把他们最小单位的货币称之分“分（cent)”，英国则叫“便士(penny)”，而西班牙人叫“分(centavo)”