Statistics, Facts & Such

A typical family writes 20 to 25 checks per month.

The Chinese were the first to use "money", about 2000 years ago.

Bank of America Nevada says that last year an estimated 55,000 checks were cashed for non-customers, each one of whom was asked to provide fingerprints on inkless pads. Less than 1% refused. Fraud from counterfeit items dropped 43%.

The Philadelphia Mint was the nation's only minting facility for 45 years. It made the first U.S. circulating coins-copper cents-in 1793.

The U.S. Department of Education estimates that the recent college senior owes an average of $7,283 in student loans.

In 1862 the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing began business with six employees in a basement room of the Treasury Department.

There are approximately 33 million Americans age 65 or older.

The Marshall Islands have issued new $5, $10 and $50 coins bearing the likeness of Elvis Presley.The coins are legal tender there, but not in the United States.

The U.S. Postal Service sells about 90,000 international money orders a year.

Nearly half of all the bills printed by the Treasury Department are $1 bills. They have the shortest average life span-just 18 months.

134 million Americans (53% of the population) can now legally meet their insurance needs through their financial institutions.

Copyright © 1995 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 5, No. 12, 8/95