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Coronet Instructional FilmsWhat Is Money? (1947)

Following the journey of a five-dollar bill through many transactions, the film shows how money functions as a standard of value and future payment, a storehouse of value and a convenient medium of exchange.


This movie is part of the collection: Prelinger Archives

Producer: Coronet Instructional Films
Sponsor: N/A
Audio/Visual: Sd, B&W
Keywords: Economics

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: allenkephart - - August 21, 2010
Subject: What is Plastic?
Nowadays, more people use plastic (debit or credit) than actual money. I use my debit card everyday and there are numberous advantages:

You don't get change back. That money stays in the bank.
You don't have the handle dirty money.
You can buy stuff on the internet.
You don't have to walk into the store and pay the clerk before pumping your gas. Swipe the card and choose the grade of gas. Then fill the car up, put the nozzle back, get a reciept and go.

My how times have changed.

Reviewer: jazzfan - - July 27, 2010
Subject: Hilarious
It’s always fun to look back. Nowadays paper money has traces of drugs. Wouldn’t they be shocked back then if they encountered a drug-sniffing dog going for your pants. Also check out that five in the movie. It looks so dark. At first I thought it was a film about counterfeiting. It’s worth five dollars because the government says so. It’s back by gold and silver reserves. Of course that’s before Nixon came along. That five is now backed by debt, an IOU. Gotta pay for that war somehow.

Reviewer: n4thanl - - March 8, 2010
Subject: A fascinating public announcement with cold war undertones.
It's very interesting and entertaining to see this particular video play out the basic principles of paper money, and subtly extol the virtues of capitalism.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - February 8, 2005
Subject: I'd pay 5 dollars for good quality bookends!
Fairly obvious piece about money and where it goes. Surprisingly lacking in government-speak, it just follows a simple path of how Tom gets 5 bucks from Dad to buy some paint. The paint store owner uses the money to pay the repair amn.. the repair man.. on and on it goes. SOME talk of counterfeitism is discussed, but not much. Really a duh film.

Reviewer: Jah Gussi - - February 8, 2005
Subject: Where is it now
So where is the five dollar bill now, don't tell me it's on ebay. If not I bet it ends up there one day.
One for the money remix maybe

Reviewer: MediaWhore - - February 7, 2005
Subject: For The Love Of Money
"for a small piece of paper it carries alot of weight"- OJays

Reviewer: The Sound Hound - - October 23, 2003
Subject: Good film
Though it is a little hokey and some of the practices in it are out of date, this film is very informative on how money works since the definitions of money it gives are still valid today. This could be shown in an economics class without hesitation.

Shotlist

FOLLOWING JOURNEY OF FIVE DOLLAR BILL THRU MANY TRANSACTIONS, FILM SHOWS HOW MONEY FUNCTIONS AS STANDARD OF VALUE, STANDARD FOR FUTURE PAYMENT, STOREHOUSE OF VALUE & CONVENIENT MEDIUM OF EXCHANGE FOR GOODS OR SERVICES.

Tracking a five-dollar bill.
paint store; barter; recreated "prehistoric time"; railyard; assembly line; gas station;
money as a quick and easy medium of exchange;
early forms of money: spearheads, shells on a string, wampum.
bills; counterfeit money; U.S. Mint; Bureau of Engraving and Printing; cash register; coins; coin changer; writing a check; making a purchase; bank; bank teller; buying; entering an airplane;
Ken Smith sez: This film follows a five-dollar bill (Federal Reserve Note G12463089B, series 34E) as it flows from person to person and performs different functions in the money channels of America. The narrator explains that money is "a quick and easy medium of exchange," which we use because "life today is too complex." Actually, money is a pretty abstract concept, and this film does a good job of making us aware of it. Watch for the cameo by "Mrs. Moore," who later played roles in Making Your Own Decisions and Political Parties.

EVOLUTION OF MONETARY SYSTEM BARTER CHECKS FIVE DOLLAR BILLS FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS VALUE GOODS SERVICES EXCHANGE MONEY CURRENCY COINS PAYMENTS PURCHASES CASH
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