Your Community and the World
Handout 3: "Currency Exchange"

Organize the students into small groups. Have each group examine U.S. coins and currency and compare these to foreign coins and currency. A few examples of foreign paper currency can be obtained cheaply at a large bank (for example, a 500 sol bill from Peru will cost about $.25). Students may also be able to bring some examples of foreign currencies from home or from relatives who have lived or traveled abroad. How do the various currencies differ in size, color, markings, persons and things pictured, etc.? Students may be interested to learn that foreigners often find U.S. money difficult to comprehend, since there are no differences in the size or color of the bills and no numerical markings of value on any of the coins. It may also intrigue students that many foreign countries have their money printed in New York City, since the technology and equipment required to print money that cannot be easily counterfeited does not exist in many of the world’s less-developed countries. Reflect the transparency of the Currency Exchange Chart. This chart shows some of the world’s major currencies. It also shows that the monetary units of different countries are not of equal value. Ask the class what problems might result from the fact that the world has over 150 currencies and that each of these has a different value. When would it be necessary to exchange a sum of money for its value in another country? (Foreign travel, foreign trade, international loans, foreign investment, transfers of profits and resources within international companies, and government expenditures overseas are some examples.) From this activity, students should understand that the monetary units of different countries have different values and that often it is necessary to exchange a sum of money in one currency for its value in another currency. Extending the Activity: Presently available are currency converters for travelers to other areas of the world. If sufficient numbers of such converters can be obtained or borrowed, then students should be given opportunities to work with these, and, perhaps, challenge their peers to create situations in which the use of the converters is required. (This would also be good if computerized language translators could also be introduced.) An exciting experience would be to ask various students to start out in a different country and plan a major trip to another country very distant from them. Have them estimate the cost of such a trip given the value of the currency on any one day. A collection of “travel” sections from newspapers would help greatly to estimate costs of air travel and hotel accommodations, etc. This could also be accomplished using Internet travel access. Updated from “The World Monetary System,” in New York and the World. New York: The American Forum for Global Education, 1998.