Once upon a time.....money did grow on trees. (Well sort of!!)
On the cacao trees, there are pods with cocoa beans. Cocoa
beans were used as currency by Mayan and Aztec civilizations
over 1400 years ago.
According to history, 100 cocoa beans would buy a slave, 10
cocoa beans bought the services of a prostitute, 4 cocoa beans
could buy a rabbit dinner. Some people just exchanged their
cocoa beans for gold.
When they had too much money to spend, they brewed the
excess cocoa beans into hot chocolate drinks.
Around 1625, in Spain 200 small cocoa beans were valued at
1 Spanish real or 4 cents.
So money did grow on trees!! And people used the cocoa beans
as money or to barter with.
Today we spend our cash money on chocolate, not the beans.
