Weekly Competition #9

09 November 2018

WINNERS ANNOUNCED:
beloved_chocolate and victorious_snow

There were all sorts of brilliant entries this week and we've posted the best ones here on the Bank of England website. There were ones that were totally different to our current system, using currencies with intrinsic worth such as kindness and truthfulness, and others that went back to basics with rocks and gemstones. Well done to everyone who submitted their idea! Beloved_chocolate was the first to push the technological suggestion, but was sceptical of their own approach too and we loved the entry from victorious_snow, which used something natural and changing to vary the worth of our money!

You can read the winning entries below in the orange boxes.

WEEKLY COMPETITION #9:
What object could we use instead?

Imagination needed: we’re all out of money! Imagine a world where money, as we know it, is outlawed. There are no coins or notes left on the planet and it’s got confusing and chaotic to buy and sell goods. This week, we’d like your inventions.

Remember: it would have to be hard to forge but easy to carry around. You’ll need to use good reasons here to explain your suggestion and be open-minded to different ideas!

Good luck! Winners will be announced on Friday.

Comments (135)

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  • We could be like how we were in the older days, and we can start a new civilisation of trade around the world where a new investment of trade could be carried out and we will live in harmony as we trade peacefully around the world with no care of a financial that causes harm all around the world. We would give credits of the products sold so nobody feels annoyed or forgotten.

    1. Because of trading we might only trade for good things and then we will only be able to trade our good things and then we might get to the state of trading our house for something that we want... It’s a big problem.

      1. However, in my imagination of a way in having a solution for England having no money, is that there would be boundaries. By boundaries, I mean one should only give up their house in trade for another another. But only at will. There would be inspectors who would check if the thing the person would want to trade would be appropriate and high quality. So if someone was to give up something, those inspectors would see if the object traded is reasonable or not.

        1. I agree you could trade objects and their could be inspectors to see if it was appropriate. But other people are thinking about Apple Pay but what if they don’t have an apple phone

          1. There is something called Samsung pay. But in my imagination, since there would be no money, there would be no need for that

  • I think we could use books because you can find them in a variety of places for example :library's or schools .I think we should use them because once you trade them with someone you can read it and learn lots of knowledge and words you didn't know before, then you can swap them for new ones and learn even more!

  • Or we could use food that grow in your garden/ crop because people have to eat otherwise you won't live for very long and if you can't go to the shop(since you can't use money)people should just trade their food they grow for food they like and haven't grown in their garden.

    1. I agree because we can make our own and then trade with people so we get important things like food and clothes

  • We could even use skills like carpentry to make furniture and things around the house or a potter/ceramasist to make crockery.You could use skills because if you had a special skill and you needed something like cutlery and they needed something too they could make you some cutlery and you could do your skill for them.

    1. I think this makes sense because if we don't have money you have to rely on skills you or someone in your family has.

  • You could use William's Shakespeare's signature because there is only 6 known to man that people have found. It is very rare and very hard to copy. The government can photocopy the signature and when you go to work you will get these instead of money. It is just paper so it is very easy to keep in your pocket.

  • Personally I believe that a new currency could be kindness. I am aware that it states you’d have to carry it around and it’s an object. But why if we involve the concept of a bank card but instead of money it is measured in ‘points’ or as I would name it: ‘ deedings’ which could be improved but it’s based off of the kindness factor which I would base it if. People may question would this minus the work? But it wouldn’t lose work you’d still use the same amount of money you earn before money stopped being produced. Proffestional jobs such as fireman’s and doctors would have higher points because of they’re extra kindness being put into it. You can still borrow from the bank but you’d be in debt to the bank. Next question that remains would be: who measures or decides on who gets points and how would it really work? The government would still control who earned what and it would be based off of your manager or boss whether you deserved extra for the day or not. However, if your self-employed then it would be slightly different to ensure you don’t use it to your own advantage. It would be measured by the amount of time you work and the progress you get through. But still who would be in charge of this because your self employed? It would be put to the customers of your business and how much they’d rate your service and you’d use this information to add up how much you would earn plus the hours you do. So do realise this would take a lot of work to sustainably involve in our world but I believe it’s different and I’d like to see any other questions people have about my idea. Also, you’d carry your car but your fingerprint plus a password would be a backup if you forget your card. This would be in place of cash or notes instead.

    1. Your creative storytelling has been awarded a star. Well done!

  • Instead of using money you could maybe use gold. You can also use use and the weight has to be 50g maximum so that however much you have it will be weighed in in rocks and 1 or 2p you could have clothes/ Going back to the clothes idea you for money you can trade if you don't undertsand what this means you give clothes for some thing back.

  • I did some research into prehistoric currencies and ways of buying and selling products.

    Just under 3,000 years ago, people would use seashells of different sizes to exchange goods. This is a great idea and in this situation could be reused.
    Compromise and bartering were most probably used before this, in my opinion this may be able to work again. Bartering is a direct trade of goods and services , however, this may take time. That is because people would have to find someone to trade fairly with.
    As an original idea and one of the strangest, I'd like to suggest using useful everyday items like stationery: pens, pencils and rubbers as currency and the more stationery you give someone the more of an item they would offer you!
    For a bottle of water you would have to hand over two pens.
    For an exercise book, on the other hand, that would cost you four pencils and a rubber.

  • We could just use our bank cards for everything because it doesn’t require any coins or paper money.

  • Even though, it might be a good idea to use resources other than paper or metal to make money (for example rocks), what will we do if that resource runs out? In my opinion, I don’t think that money needs to be something physical like metal coins and paper notes as it is easy to lose, forge, get stolen and there is the trouble of carrying it around everywhere you go.

    So, my solution to this problem is to create an eye retina system where the scanner scans and takes a picture of the retina of your eye and automatically links to your bank account and takes the money out of it and sends it to the person that you are paying. Let’s say that you were buying an item from the supermarket, you would have to scan the item, look into the scanner and the money from your account will automatically be deducted according to the price of the item. It will be the same concept for when you are buying online except you would have to look into the webcam.

    I have chosen to create an eye retina system because every single person’s eye retina is different, even the retinas of each eye of the same person is different. This fact proves that there is no possible way that someone’s money could be forged, as everyone’s eyes are unique and it is even better than using fingerprints. There is also nothing to carry around everywhere because all you need is your eyes to access the money.

    All in all, this new system is a very easy and efficient way to access your money without using up physical resources like paper or metal.

    1. I would use a footprint because every footprint is different except from identical twins. If you were identical twins you would have to be good at sharing so the other twin won't steal your money.

  • If we were out of money we had to event money really quickly. How. We must work really hard and decide who should go on a banknote before it is to late.

  • If there was no money left then instead of it I would use something a bit special that I don't think I need such as:a money bank ,antique furniture .
    Also if that did not work and people still didn't have any money like coins and notes then the queen would have to figure out something to do.If we did not have the queen then it would be very hard because normally the queens and kings say what would happen and would the important people to pass on messages.Without our queen it would be very hard to survive but it would not be too hard because there could be other kings and queens of other countries trying there best to help us or if there were no rulers of the countries, we would have to help ourselves by trusting each other. This is what I think.

  • we could invent a pocket money making machine.

  • If there was no money left on the world and it was impossible to make any more, we would not necessarily need money. We could use fingerprint scanners or eye scanners to pay for things, so that we would always have our money on us. However, this may cause problems that banks would run out of business because people would not have to store their money in banks, meaning that banks could only lend money to people. However, it would be good because then there would be a global currency and you could use your stored money anywhere. It would be like having your own personal bank which could not be stolen from, as you cannot steal somebody's finger/eye and every fingerprint/eye is different.

    If it had to be a physical currency, contact lenses could be used as money. They would be easy to carry around and could be used as well as bank cards. The person who is spending them would place their contact lens on their eye, which would then be scanned, and the amount being paid deducted from what is on the lens. The lenses would only have high amounts of money on them though, because there would be no point putting countless 1 pence lenses on, and once the amount of money is taken off of the lens it would be given to the shop to give to the banks once more, to re-stock with money. The amount paid would then be transferred straight to the bank account of the owner of the shop, who would then transfer some to his employees. This would mean that the banks would not have to keep on making money, but only they could create the lenses in the first place and top them up. There may be a problem when trying to extract lenses from cash machines because of their shape, and it may take a while to make transactions because it might be hard to put on and take off the lenses quickly.

    Another option could be to have very small plugs. Like the lenses, they would have money on, to be taken off and then returned to the bank. The customer could plug it into the cash machine, which would make the transaction. The plugs would only have to be 1 cm by 1 cm, so would be easy to carry around.

    However, for both of these theories, there would be a big problem. Although they would be hard to reproduce, if stolen, the thief would not have to verify that the lens/plug was theirs, although this could be enforced by having to put in a code to the cash machine. Also, shops may not be able to afford the sorts of scanners or plug sockets need to take money.

    1. Well done for being sceptical of your own suggestions. This is really hard to do but shows great critical thinking, even about your own ideas!

  • In my opinions we should use something rare to find ,like a rare leaf, because this will make us do some work which involves physicall movements which we know is good for our body.

    Obviously, the leaf have to live in our country but if it's alive on a tree then it has not got that much value. But as it grows and it's colour changes, the value also grows. Maybe if it's on the tree,that value can worth the same as a coin depending on it's size.And if the colour completely changes that value can worth alot!

    There could be a season or day which the trees grow so much leaves and people just widely hunt for them.That day my be celebrated as ''money day''
    This does not need to be in purses all the time because maybe there is a chance to find a leaf on your way but that doesn't help all the time.If we understand that this leaf is replacing money note and coins then we are capable to carry ir around as always.

    But in the other hand it is actually hard because leaf can rip easily and it is hard to find out the value.
    SOLUTION
    We still have some paper notes which obviously can rip easily
    If we get use to the new money system then we'll understand the values.

    1. A creative idea and well written entry. Great storytelling!

  • We could use cheque books because all you would have to do is sign the cheque and then give it in to the bank although this would mean there would be a lot of people in the bank and it would get very crowded in the bank and that would be quite chaotic still.
    Another way we could do is still use credit card as another source of cash this would also be very light and easy to carry around and for transport
    Technology is used everyday by children and adults and we could use that for our money .Like Apple Pay we can access our bank accounts by just with our phones or devices.You can also access your credit or debit card by this route as well,

    I think that all of these ways are acceptable because they are all light and easy to access.✔👍

    1. A really crafty comment. I absolutely agree.

    2. I agree with you because with Apple Pay there aren’t any coins/bank notes in the phone so you are just using technology to buy things.

  • I think you could use a number. By this I mean you can have a personal number which shops could use to access your bank account and work places can use to pay people. There will also be a compulsory database that every shop and workplace will have. I know some people might say people might forget but do people forget their names, date of birth, phone number, where they live? THANK YOU FOR READING!!!

  • I think we could use different objects really, but in my personal opinion i think we should use playing cards , each design represents a different amount of money i think this because , the prices would be easy to remember unlike some other objects

  • If there was no money left in our country then it would be harder to survive because we would have no money to grow food and get food.

  • We could sell by using skills. if a crazy man who is a scientist needed his wife looking after and somebody nearby wanted a computer fixing , the person who needed his computer fixing can look after the crazy scientists wife while the scientist can fix the computer. so if the world had no money , we could use skills

  • I think if we didn't have money life would be a any normal day we would grow are own food rather than farmers doing it for use:the farmers could grow it for them self and not have to worry about use and low payment for all of there hard work.I personally think that we would all come together rather than working on prototypes like buildings and money we would earn are food by hard labor on crops and make are houses out of natural resources of the earth for instance mud,leafs and sticks not for getting tree sap to stick it together.

  • I would use a type of common stone and shape it into a small thin coin with a small picture of a crown as a use of paying someone directly. If in this situation there was still internet and phones I would use today’s online payment system for online payment if there was not the whole worlds people’s bank account would be written down by various people shopkeepers or someone you pay would have a long scroll and they would have your name on there they would ask you your full name and would minus the amount of money you spent from your previous amount of money on their scroll ...it would be long and hard to work out but it would solve the problem

  • In my opinion, it would be absolutely chaos because everybody would be in hope of the same thing and people wouldn't need jobs so nobody would be able to be helpes by someone and for parking, you would be able to park anywhere. This would be without money, so if everybody had no money then what would happen? Would the world just ban money, but what if everybody wanted the same thing? Who would get it?

    My point is, the world needs money for lots of things.

  • i would encourage my school to use all of their ideas to create new coins and banknotes i would try my hardest to bring prices down

  • I think you should do that but you need to buy the seeds and supplies to grow the crops and you also need somewhere to grow the food to

  • I think that children should get some poket money because they need to lean to respect money but at the same time I don’t because if every kid got poket money their would be NO money left for the adults who need to use that money for food,tax’s and all life things

  • In my opinion, if money on the Earth was outlawed, nobody could have a successful business because everybody would steal to get food and things that are necessary to survive. Therefore the world would turn Ito a chaotic place and at some point, everything would be gone.

  • I would lower prices down to something really low so we could still live and get what we need.

  • The reason why everything would be gone because if everyone stole everything, every product would be used and eventually run out because people don’t have the ‘money’ to make more things.

  • We could use books to research what we need to know and SOME books are easy to carry around.

  • I think we would have to trade items, because if we couldn’t buy things the only option to be nutritioned (fed and watered) or have good clothing is to trade some valuables for the things we need that other people might have! On the other side, lots of shops might get robbed because there is no money to buy food. Lots of food would be gone by a short time because as farmers plant food, the shops have to pay to put it in their shop, so it would be a really hard time. Clothing would get smaller by the time and for example Primark can’t pay to make clothes.
    Instead of money, we could use valuables, as mentioned previously, or things that could be used as money, such as copper or diamonds.

  • If we ran out of money, nobody would be able to get paid so they would have to trade valuable items. Also if we went to the shop we would have to steal food which would get us into trouble . If you have a house you wouldn’t actually be able pay the bills then your house would be taken away this means you will be homeless. Especially if you have children they would not be provided with anything. My way of

  • I think that we could make our own pound notes but gather up at a bank and give them in, we could have:£1,£2,£5,£10,£15,£20 etc.The bank would turn them into money and make lots of copies

  • I think mindful skill is wrong because how can you use your bank card if you do not have any money

  • As the money has been outlawed my way is to give diamonds or metal

  • I also think (like in the world wars) that the food that has not been eaten yet should be rationed. This is because if we ate all of the food, people would eventually starve and die. Therefore the world will be empty and our species will be gone.

  • I think if money (notes and coins) were outlawed, we could transfer our money to our cards and phones. Therefore we would not be breaking the law because we are paying with our technology. The world would be the same as always.

    1. i dont agree because making phones for everyone will be very expensive and tricky for the government and public.

  • The world can’t run out of money first reason because first of all you should have savings

    1. Have you heard about the financial crisis? Also check your grammar

  • There would be no food to eat if you had run out at home. Life would be a crisis.

  • My currency is DNAPay. We could use our DNA to pay for things. As we all have different DNA and genetics, criminals will not be able to forge our DNA and DNA currency. To acquire the DNA all you will have to do is spit into a tube and let the seller examine it or a simple fingerprint scan.

    1. It is a good idea but how would people who had been payed use that to buy something else? They can't use the other person's DNA!

  • Life would be stressful - No money on this world... How would we pay for the niccesities of life? E.g: Food and drinks.
    I think it would be a massive struggle to pay for houses due to having no money, so a lot of the people of the world would be homeless.
    Also, without paying for things, the economy wouldn’t be functioning and the companies would not have enough money to pay the humongous businesses; Banks!

    No one would have any money to pay for ANYTHING!
    Yes, ANYTHING!
    Almost all of us would be poor.

    - energetic_rock

  • I believe a central cryptocurrency that is state-controlled by governments and banks will be most effective. The currency will allow people to pay for things in a secure way, as the online algorithms cannot be hacked or forged. People would pay by either facial recognition or retina scan. The government would have to attach value to objects that the people have already , such as properties, food and other amenities.

    1. I've given this a star for showing good curiosity around new ways people are creating currency.

  • Life will be hardd

  • Gold could be used because its a metal that does not dissolve in liquid so it would last very long and because they used to use it in the olden days. People could trade according to the weight of the gold. The more valuable the object, the heavier the amount of gold to buy it.

  • in my opinion gold would be used by giving people very good luck because gold is worth a lot of pounds so people will have to look after it.

  • Since money is gone we could use medals because you would have to win competitions to get a medal.

  • Now since money has ran out all over the planet we could use paper with a picture of Donald Trump on the front and in the corner it says 1,000,000 so everyone would be rich.

    1. Why would you choose donald trump? What do you like or dislike about him? I disagree with your idea as a lot of people do not like donald trump as he has made some bad and unfair decisions in the past. You do have a very controiversial oppinion here. And wqhy 1000000 pounds or however much it was? Surely you want some people to earn the money. IU would like you rto rethink your answer.

  • Since money would no longer exist, I think that you could have everything could be free for everyone because then you wouldn't have to stress about money

  • Instead of inventing an actual sustainable and working currency we could have no money. Way before any form of currency or trading was invented, people didn't buy or sell anything. They scavenged for supplies and did things their own way. Therefore we could do the same where theft and bills would never be a current matter.

  • Since money would no longer exist they could use bitcoin instead of money so it would not need to be forged because it is not a real thing.

  • In my opinion, I believe that we should use something extremely rare such as, a rare chocolate bar. This would be easy to carry around & people would still have to work for it.

  • We should trade items so that way, you and the person you’re trading with are both satisfied.

  • In my opinion, I believe that we should use something rare such as, a small rare piece of stone. This way it would be easy to carry around, yet people would still have to work for it.

    Obviously this piece of stone would be in the UK & on our streets, so you may be asking yourself:

    " HOW DO I KNOW THE VALUE OF THIS STONE? "

    Well throughout every season there will be a change of the value, meaning that: During Spring the stone would turn to Orange - worth £50. In the Summer it would turn Purple - worth £20. During Autumn the colour would change to brown - £10 . Lastly, during Winter it would turn blue - worth £5.

    For coins, I believe that coins will not exist as nowadays it's all technology that people use. I also believe that eventually money will all be dealt with electronically, I mean look what it's like now, credit cards have become wireless.

  • I think that we should use things that you can find all over the world, such as food, books, and things that provide education. This would mean that you could trade books or food for something you might need like medicine. Also if someone is in need you could provide things to that person or their family to help them. It would be like loaning something to help that person or that person's family.

  • To stop money someone said grow crops but I disagree because you need to buy seeds and
    Equipment to plant the crops so that will be quite a lot off money and when growing food
    You need to have the time and space to so you need somewhere to grow the food .

    I am not that smart but I know my money and know how to keep it safe and how to use it and I know the value of money some people have know money so if someone takes some of you or the bank is wrong if you have some money when some people have no money so is you see any charities make sure to donate anything even if it’s 10p is still money donated to charity and every little helps .

  • we can use food instead of money because i think it wouldnt be caotic

  • i will use bitcoin

  • You should use a retina scan, fingerprints money needs to be electronic and be accessed easily and safely

  • Facial recognition because no ones face is the same and it would be unique to use. It would also be connected to a bank account

  • Say if you went to the shop and wanted to bye some Doritos and the shop keeper said to get that you have to massage my feet

  • Trade services could be another options.For example,if you want to buy a series of books, you could do a job for someone and be paid for it. You could teach someone a maths lesson, walk their dog or make something for them.

  • If this situation was to occur I would use a hand print because every hand print is different and unique. There is no way that someone would break into it without your print so you know that it is super secure

  • In my mind,I think that Bitcoin would be the best option to use if money were vanquished from the earth because of the fact that it's a virtual currency and it couldn't be stole or multiplied and also the fact that it's easier to transfer money across countries

  • Since most people have different DNA you could have a DNA profiles. However, if you were a twin you would have to be willing to share a bank account.

  • If we didn’t have coins or notes in our lives I would :read most of the time to improve my intelligence and adventure,farm and have a great life like my parents did as they did not have much stuff to enjoy and ofcourse would by stuff with a card.

  • I would use my bank card to buy lots of food and water supplies and go live somewhere I would sell my house no matter how much it would be and the money would go to my bank card and I would buy more supplies then find a good warm place to live.

  • This could be an easy way to enter into a society of socialism, where the percentage of needed work you do and how hard you do it influences how much of the products of other people you recieve.

  • Maybe we could use something called house points,every time we do something nice for are community then we get points,but the points aren’t going to be easy to get. If we use house points then it will make the community (city) and the world better place. Your probably thinking,how are we going to get food. Well the people who are farmers make the food and when they do the get house points so they can buy 10% of the food they make. And the way we get money is again,by house points and if we make food we get even more house points. The house points will be used to buy anything .

  • Therefore, there would be no need for any currency or object.

  • i think that is was the public's fault because they shouldn't take out so much money that they cant pay it back. Also , i think that the banks should track down peoples history and see if they can pay it back and how long it will take. them.

  • I think that we could trade Items that we agree should be the same value e.g. camera could be as worth as much as a radio (depending on the quality of the item).

  • I think you could use thumbprints, like we use here at school to buy our food. When a child reached say 6 or 7 they would have their thumbprint registered and they would be able to buy things by placing it on a scanner. When you work you would still get paid but it would link to your thumbprint and if a child was to be given pocket money their parents can top it up online. I think it would work as you would not have to carry anything around. By the way the currency would still be pounds and pence.

  • I think that as a replacement for money we should all use bank cards as they will not damage the environment as much as our currency at the moment. The Governments around the world would all agree on a method like bank cards or facial recognition and put every person in the system. Trading could also be an option as people could do things in exchange for other things, for an example you want a bag of sweets and someone else has it they could say, " I'll give you my bag of sweets if you give me this or do this for me."

  • I believe we should abolish capitalism in today's society completely eradicating the concept of money and to replace this we put everything under the control of the state. the state disturbs all necessary objects to individual people on the basis of how much the person does to improve the country. So simple jobs like nurses, doctors, trash men, scientist, firefighters e.t.c. that actually do something for us get given extra or more sufficient or luxuries to these jobs whilst people who work at mcdonalds or accountants or help desk people who do nothing for the society, get the bare minimum. Now the extras get stockpiled by the government for future crisis and in the question of financial crisis they will never happen ever again.

  • I think that instead of money that we should trade. for example, a banana for an orange or a tin of tuna for a tin of dog food. It would also lead to bad things as well such as we might trade in something that is off or that has gone by there sell by/best before date. this would also lead to no one needing a job which therefore would mean that we would not have anyone working at the hospital and with no money then how can we have free health care.

  • I don't think that a substitute for money is... NOTHING! This is because I think that a world without payment would be much better. People wouldn't have to work and earn money when they could be spending time with their family; banks wouldn't be needed and they wouldn't go bustand life would be easier for everyone.
    In addition, people wouldn't be poor or have to beg on the streets for food. Everyone would have a roof over their head and a many more possibilities. That is why I believe that the world should not have currency or any form of money.

  • Apologies, my cat sat on my keyboard!

    As a substitute for money we could just use our phones and type in your phone number, which would be connected to your bank account, to pay for all of your stuff

    1. how would your sentence be clear and not lots of letters like this uigwgefjgslkgf

  • I personally think that we should trade. This would avoid any scammers if you showed them the item.
    Another plausible idea is that less fortunate and poorer may get more of certain things e.g. food, fridges, containers and much more.

  • I think we should use our exsisting items as currency, we can barter with eachother, so that everybody can hjave what they want. If people don't have items they can do jobs for each other and exchange kindness and favours. This will change the wordl because people will be more kind and it will allow poorer people to get a better life as they can take part in tasks to earn things rather than all the rich people have money. Everyone wouldn't be poor or rich anymore, it would be based on how much kindess you have once all the items have been swap.

  • I think that money shouldn't be a solid substance. Money doesn't need to be material so it should be something non-existent. Something like an eye scanner or fingerprint scanner. It would stop the risk of people stealing money or people hacking bank accounts as no-one has identical thumb/finger-prints or eyes.

  • I think that we should use an app that can be downloaded on all types of phones which works a bit like Apple Pay because it would work like a card so you can scan it on a card machine. My thinking behind this idea is that we have been using portable currency since the Ancient Mayans but instead of coins they used coco beans as they were very valuable to them. In England we have already been using card and electronic payments for some time so I believe that this theory will automatically happen over time.

  • I personally think that we could use plastic, but plastic that has been found on beaches, in the sea or in landfill. We could use some sort of cutter to cut the plastic into different shapes and sizes depending on how much it's worth. therefore, it would not only solve the problem of there being no money, it would also solve the problem of landfill and un-reusable plastic. It will solve the problem of having no solid money.

    1. I agree with you because it will hopefully stop extinction with animals.

  • I think it will need to be something that everyone has. Maybe when a baby is born they could give them a ticket with money and they can use that money in whatever they want but for good, if they see that that person used that money for something bad they could have a bill but you need to be more than 18. They will have an exit amount of money doesn´t matter if you a poor or rich, to recharge that ticket you will need to work for several days, more or less one hole month, and then they will give you money. If you don´t go to work the days that they told you you will lose money and like that they will not judge you if you are rich or poor because everyone will be the same. That helps to have less discrimination to other people. If you don´t have money it will be for a fair cause: YOU did something wrong not others

    Like that life could be more faire with others. :)

  • I think we could use a picture of you and your age and stuff like things about you so you don't have to keep and topping it up with money every here and than so like a I.D so they know who you are and age so if you wanted to get something not for your age they have every right to tell you your not able to get it because it can harm you.

    I have thought of this so it can keep you harm free and you don't have to find different things to pay with.

    It's also safe because if you were to drop it and someone was to find it,it's useless because they cannot go to the shop and say this is me because everyone is different.

    You'll most likely to have it for ever

  • Adding on to my point it easy to carry.

  • I think that instead of paying with an object when you go to buy some things for your shopping or to buy a phone etc., they should ask you a question like this:
    If you were having a nice day out on the beach and you saw someone about to get eaten by a shark, would you save them?
    People could be cheeky and lie and say yes when they would actually run away in this situation. The government have already thought about that. In the shops they will still have the machines that you put your credit cards in, but they do a different job. They are lie detectors and they can also send messages into peoples head. When the person is answering the question, the lie detector will quietly scan them. It has no beam or any sign that it is on so the person won't realize they are being scanned. I f they tell the truth, the lie detector sends the message into the worker's brain and the person who is shopping can take their shopping home. However, if they are lying, the lie detector sends this message into the worker's brain and the person shopping cannot have their shopping for the week.
    The only thing you need to buy anything you want is... honesty.

    1. The idea of trust payment is really creative. Why do you think truth is valuable? Are there some dangers involved in this?

  • i think there should be a touch id system. Basically you have a name that you write in the computer and your name has your money in it and you would need some kind of id to access your money

  • We could use... Nothing! Just the internet! A software just like normal but all your money is digital. You pay online and no-one can steal from you. You can protect it with an invisible digital app. It can be unbreakable so that you can't give yourself more digital money!

  • Something to add... You don't even need to worry about the type of money as in digital euros and pounds. The software does it all for you! No need for long trips to currency exchange!

  • So this may sound a bit unusual but rocks are a great way to pay for whatever you need. For example, if you found a rock on the beach or something it would not be of much value (Like 1 pence in money terms) however if you went mining and found rubies, crystallised rocks or even metals, they would be worth more. Now if we reused the rocks that we gave in it would be beneficial as we could possibly never run out. These rocks would have to be slightly valuable because a normal rock would not be worth a lot. Then, inside the store we could have a scanner or a weight machine dedicated to scanning rocks. The scanner could be used for the appearance of the rock and the weight machine could be used for how heavy it is-if the rock looks beautiful and extraordinary it would be worth more. Rocks could be carried around easily as you could either put it in your pocket or in your bag. When you have a job and you need to get payed, depending on how hard you worked you would get a variety of rocks (minimum per hour= one small piece of a emerald.) As rubies and diamonds are extremely hard to find, they would be worth thousands of pounds. This could help people in poverty as well as they have the opportunity to find valuable rocks and improve their lifestyle. Also online, we could develop a system that everyone can access to see how many rocks they have collected. (It could be called RockClays) People can have rock-cards (Credit cards) so that they would not always have to carry around their rocks but have them be kept in RockClays instead. Also, there would have to be some sort of law system such as the fact that you can not trespass or do anything illegal to get these rocks. This would be a good alternative to money as we do not have to use plastic which affects wildlife.

    1. Oh yeah, that is a really awesome idea. If I was a teacher and I was part of the BNC, I would give you a star. Wish I could. It’s too good.

  • Another alternative to rocks is stamps. Stamps can be used as currency as they come on your mail, and unlike the rocks they are lighter so if you are collecting them it would be lighter then carrying a large amount of rocks. It would have the same idea as the rocks however it would be less accessible as you cannot find stamps everywhere.

  • I truly and strongly believe that if you use your imagination you wouldn't have money as a solid form, as much as I like the idea of money being kindness I would much prefer the money to be replaced by trust because you would have to show trust to the bank by letting them keep your money/trust safe by keeping it locked up , then you could save up but let the bank keep it somewhere safe so nobody can steel it. You would finally trust the bank and trust the bank with your money/ trust you obviously cant hold trust , by me saying keep it safe and lock it up I meant they lock it up in their harts and you'll probably give them your phone number so that they know your not lying to them and steeling someone else's money/trust. A while back I said you can save your trust by that I meant keep filling the bank with information on why they should trust you and keep showing them acts of trust. Another thing I also said was they lock it up and keep it safe so nobody steels it I mean when its in your heart its in your heart and if people say they've came to get someone else's money/trust ask them what their phone number is and their name to actually see if the person is just going to steel your money/trust or is actually coming to get it and keep it safe for you. The part when I said don't let anyone take my money/trust away from you I meant don't let anyone get inside you and take away your trust from you and give that person your money/trust. This is my reason as to why I think trust should replace money. Hope you enjoyed reading this and understand what I have written.

  • We could trade then it would be easier to get more things you want and people could get like a kettle for some food or an old TV for a new t-shirt or something along those lines.

  • I think that we can use fingerprints and eye scanners to pay for things. It would mean we would always have our money on us but it would mean that banks would become unused.

  • I think that you could have a sort of chip in your wrist so that you could pay with a tap and if your pulse stops it stops working so nobody could cut it off and steal your money.
    also if somebody steals you could identify the person running with the chip and track it so they don't escape and discourage people from stealing.

  • If all the money in the world were to be gone, and if it would be impossible to make anymore i would change the payment to smiles.

    I would change it to smiles because it is easy to spot a fake smile it also has a link to kindness. With my idea of smiles you would have a card for every smile you give and all the kind words you say can count for points. Not only will it be impossible for anyone to steel your smile it would also make the world a better place. Smiles you make or the smiles people who you complement ( from the things you say) will count on your card.

    Not only is this efficient, it would also be a nicer way to earn money by just saying something nice or smiling. However a fake smile can be spotted and one point will be deducted form your card.

  • In my opinion, I think we should invent a new card. Not any sort of card, but a card that has your personal details on. To present the card details and your personal details on it, you have to touch a sensor with your index fingerprint for the details to appear on the front of it. To hide the details again, touch the sensor with your thumb for security. I think everyone should only have one card, so it's not complicated for payment. This way, it's hard to forge and if people stole your card they would not be able to use it. To get your card back, you would go to the bank and they have a fingerprint machine. You would put your index finger on it and on their computer it would load with your card details and they would make you a new one. To prove that you definitely need a new one and aren't just using two cards, inbuilt in the card is a tracking system so they can locate your card. Everyone's fingerprint is unique, so that would be the only thing you need to pay for your items! Cash wouldn't be needed because all money would be stored digitally in banks.

  • An idea could be just to use respect...if you show respect people will respect you and that's a fair trade when money isn't available. Another one could be loyalty or service. If you have worked or done something for someone that should be enough instead of having to recreate a new currency. Think of it as a favor or a "salad" as some people would call it. If you do a thing for someone, the only right thing to do in a scenario like this is to repay them with a similar action. For example, if you have done a good deed for your parents such as cleaning your room (which shows respect for your things and your parents decision) they could repay you with a luxury like right now where if you clean your room, you get pocket money.

    Another example is in schools...Having respect as a currency could teach children from a young age to respect the teachers/carers..It shows to respect them as an authoritative figure and to listen to them..This will lead to many more people getting well taught educations and prevents job losses because following my logic, everyone shall be paid equally.

    A problem to this is relationships...If you have loved someone and have a best friend, you may appreciate and respect the loved one more since you have them types of feelings whereas with the best friend, it is strictly mutual and platonic.

  • I think that something we could use instead of money is face ID. Apple have already came up with the idea of using face ID to unlock phones so why not using it to pay for things? You would have to keep anything in safe, so the chance of another financial crisis happening is pretty slim. Although it's not necessarily something you can carry round it something you wouldn't be able to lose and no one can steal it. Like your driver license you could update it as you grow older so you are able to carry on paying the money through out the whole life. Another thing is you would be able to pay online just by scanning your face. You would still have to work for 'money'. So in this case it would be added to your name and by scanning your face you would take off money. So I personally think we should use face ID for money.

    1. The financial crisis did not occur because money was stolen. Hopefully you'll learn more about it in your sessions for BNC.

  • I think that we should all have accounts stored within the government on a big database that hold our digital money. We could have microchips in the ends of our fingers that we tap on a sensor and the currency is transferred across to the account of the given person/organisation. I think this would be a good way of storing money because it is secure and it will put an end to pick pocketing bank cards and cash. I also think this would be a good idea because people can steal cash and cards, but they can’t steal your finger!

    1. A growing problem is online fraud and hacking. What would happen if someone hacked into the database and could get people's details?

  • Money makes the world go round?
    But does it? Money is hundreds of years old and it's time for the future not the past that is why I believe digital currency (points) is the future, with fingerprint recognition in local banks credit card password theft will be abandoned by criminals and the confusion of buying products and experiences with cash will never happen again.
    People would be payed by how long they work and bonuses would be based on how hard they work and would not be taken out of a teacher manager or bosses points but would come out of their second account the 'give away' account supplied by the government but as money can just be made from thin air it would not cost them anything.

  • I think that we should just share the everything with the world

  • It would be hard to live because if you have planted food seeds and you run out of food you will die of no food

  • So people won’t be poor

  • Personally I believe that the idea of using currencies of kindness and honesty to pay for things is ignorant, mindless and juvenile; while it could always be a area of imagination to fantasy upon it could never be applicable to the real world. My reason for stating this is as follows: if there happened to be a circumstance of discrimination, prejudice or racism (which in my opinion there will always be some form of) victims might be exploited and discredited for there efforts and not receive/submit the due amount. Another reason I believe that this method of payment is unreasonable is because it will be near impossible for one to set the boundaries of how much each deed is worth since one way or another they're going to be misused and taken advantage of - how would one pay for something at a supermarket, compliment the cashier?!

    As a substitution of money I think that a point system would be suitable to run an economy upon. When one works they would receive the due amount according to the superiority of their jobs and contribution in society, one could carry around a key of some sorts which opens access into their account registered with the government - similar to are credit card system. I don't think that an eye-scan or fingerprint method would be ideal since one couldn't be able to share an account with a spouse, family member or child.

    1. You make a great challenge here and show good scepticism.

      Be careful to make sure the language you use when challenging information is still respectful. 'Mindless' and 'juvenile' could be replaced with more accurate words which match how good your explanation is. For example, 'unrealistic'.

    2. I understand exactly what you're trying to say and It's absolutely great but please try to use less harsh words but i do believe what you're saying. Just try to use less offencive wo

  • Personally, I feel that body scanners should be used to buy things as it is a full-proof method. Nobody can copy a 3-D version of someone else's body that would actually work. Also, this can work for anyone no matter what disability you have.

  • I personally believe that we should not require money or currency. If everyone took only what they need or require we would have more than enough resources to go around and more. However, acquiring these resources would rely on a human input which some may believe should gain more income. This could be overcome those who are universally recognized as worthy or valuable to the society should gain bonuses, promotions, and recognition.

    I believe that this would be an effective and successful substitution for currency but also recognize that it could be improved and elaborated so I appreciate ideas and criticism.

  • If all the money was to be spent, and we were left with nothing to use, i would replace it with knowledge. The more you learn the more you make. Money isn't that useful but knowledge is. You would gain money by doing things like reading books, going to school and even finding out facts from friends. Some people say money is evil and in some ways i do agree, but knowledge is always good. Its never bad to know something if anything it is impressive. This would also encourage people to go to school and even older people who don't go to school, it would encourage them to read. Knowledge is key.

    With people who struggle to learn, it would be much harder for them. So, when this is put into thought even the slightest attempt at learning would count. Even if you don't learn much at all. Everything counts.

  • i think we can trade our objects just like they used to do in the old days or we could make our own civilisation making diffrent things cost different prices like using counters like big ones are £50 and medium ones are £10 and little ones cost £5 and realy large ones cost double the amount of a fith one ore we could live without money and spend our times trying to entertain our selves like how old people used to do. civillization could be better without money people would stop stealing and killing and the world would be safer without money to.

  • I think that instead of paying with money when we go to buy things for our shopping or buying electronics like kindles and phones etc, we could pay with our actions.

    For example:
    If you went for a day out with your family/friends and you saw an old lady crossing the road, and she was struggling with the weight of her shopping bags and you then went out of your way to help her, you could get a good action point.
    Action points could be recorded with the ‘angel and devil on your shoulder’ saying. If you did a good deed (like the example above), you could get a good action point given by the angel, whereas if you did a bad deed you could get an action point taken away from you, by the devil. Different deeds could give you different points, like if you did a simple deed you could get one action point, but if you did a complex action you could get several action points. This works either way, good or bad.

    Action points could be recorded by a computer chip embedded in your head. These could keep track of your action points and one action point would get you one thing from the shops. A computer would be able to scan the chip and see how many action points you have. Then the computer could show how many points you have on a screen so the cashier could give you the right amount. Each time you bought something, that would be taken of from how many action points you have (for example, if you had 7 action points and bought a bottle of milk, it would then change to 6 action points). That way nobody would be able to lie and cheat.

  • I think there should be cards which only the person with the stamp of the person they got it from on it can use. When they use it for buying something the person who it is given to has to get the last person's stamp on it as proof that they have not forged it. When somebody has given you their card and stamped it, it belongs to you. Everybody's stamp would be unique and changes every time that person has used 20 cards. Every payment has to be recognized by a bank. If someone needed new cards they would go to their bank and they request a certain amount of cards. Everybody would have an allowance of 1000 cards a year. It is only this many because the cards would move from person to person.

    When one card has 20 stamps on it the person with the card would go to a bank and show them. They would then receive a new one.

  • Or maybe everyone could help each other with what they need and no money would be needed. For food people could all grow their own food and use that, but could use other food that cannot be grown or can't be grown in their area from other people or sent from other countries and kept in food banks for them. People would have the right to a certain amount of food a week and if they take too much they would lose however much extra they took plus 5% of that as interest.

    If a machine was needed to help someone recover from an illness or an injury other people would help them and use machines that had already been used in that area which had been sent to a certain place.

    If someone wanted something for entertainment, they would go to another area where people had made things that had been transported to that county, for example. They would have a set allowance in that category.

    What I'm saying is that there would be no money and everyone would help each other. People would have a set allowance for every category, but, in a time of great need or somebody needed equipment to make something to help others, they would be allowed to take more by the Government or other high-up people.

  • We could use silver from rings and shape them into coins the same with gold.We could start paying with dimods,ruby,exetra.

  • I think we could trade using food & drink. I think this because, you cant live without food nor water. If we didn't have money we would have to grow or make our own food by farming unlike today where we can get pre-made meals. Food would be valuable as many people wouldn`t have food so it would be good to pay by food. This would help as if you had an apple ( or any seeded fruit/vegetable ) you could plant a tree using them seeds. Water/Drink would also be a big thing as you wouldn't get clean water/drink. If you bought fish for example, you would HAVE to have salt to keep it fresh so you could pay by salt.

  • "Okay, so that adds up to five center metres of gold thread, two pieces of magenta silk and two wooden buttons" slurred the shopkeeper in a southern drawl. I fished them out of my deep pockets and pulled the shining thread from my waist belt. I had many different colours hanging from spools on my belt but the gold was by far my favourite. I also disliked giving the shop keeper my silks, they were lush and floaty and i loved the soft feeling they made on my fingers. While i thought, the shopkeeper bagged my purchases, the bread, the ham, the smoothie, the butter and the green and crisp iceberg lettuce as well as a few others.
    Ever since the government stopped using old money, we started to use buttons, silk and other cloth, and sometimes even ribbons. It is quite fun though, with all the different materials we use.
    "Are you going to buy my cheese or not madam!" a deep voice interrupted my thinking " it only costs two polkadot buttons a slice," i replied in a sorry voice, he had, after all, been waiting quite a long time! "I'm coming!"

    1. This is a fabulous and creative entry! Well done for using excellent storytelling skills to tell us about this imagined time.

    2. I like how you have used a creative and storytelling narrative instead of just explaining what could be used. It's a really good idea.

    3. you have run out of money . wohhhh! you could carve out a piece of wood and then wrap it round in tin foil and then different shapes are different valuse like star would be 20 pounds and a z shape would be worth 900 pounds. you have a really nice image thet i am painting in my head right now so good thinking and well done for the star !.

  • You could search your entire house or apartment and find items that you don't want anymore and you could race them so you still get something in return but you also get ride of something that you didn't want anymore.

  • I think we should carry around respect because Respect is has more value than money anyway.

    The reason why I have chose Respect is because RESPECT is because ,it is not just about listening it is also about...
    Caring ,loving,making people feel special and treating people equally whether their your friend or not .

    For example :people tend to only give money to the people they know .How would you feel if you had no friends, no money?
    But when it comes to Respect it is not possible

  • To not show respect it counts start know think... What can we do to show respect ?
    Do you value money more than respect.?
    If you do tell me give me a why.

  • You could use your saving card or credit card or gold. This doesn’t require any money. If you have a credit and someone hacks into your account, you could put an banking alerts for your smartphone and tell the police. Gold is the most protected thing. It is usually stored in the Bank of England. No thieves managed to steal a piece of gold from the Bank of England. There are approximately about 5134 gold stored in the Bank of England. You could also use a fingerprint security, voice or face password. To make your personal details extra safe.

    They should just say how many humans do you have in your family? When they say the answer, do a lie detector and they have to tell you the truth. When they say how many people they have in there family, the other worker give them the amount of food to eat. They don’t need to pay. If you give not to much food and they usually eat a lot of food, it is better for there health and they’ll get more healthier.

  • You need to save up all your money you can trade it for food,drink and other supplies you cannot live with out food or water. Remember to keep the rest of your money safe what you have not already spent. Think before you spend.

  • The above post is also by Dependable_duck and Ethical_cookie.

  • I think we should use an item that is hard to create so that people cannot make counterfeit money. This way, no one would be able to illegally make money easily. I think we should use an everyday object that we use often so it would be very convenient. This is why I think you should use a watch. It is simple and easy for people to understand how to use. Like a credit card, it would have to be used to buy things. Though, instead of it being contactless, since people can easily just steal your card and use it without it being secured, it would need a password. It is also convenient because people cannot steal it since it would be stuck around your wrist which would reduce the amount of thieves as well as the fact that a random person can’t make it, only workers.

    1. But wouldn't that mean a lot of people in the world would learn how to make watch and parents and teachers would encourage children to learn how to make a watch?

  • without money we are nothing and we would be homeless and we would have to sleep on the dirty disgusting ground which can give you a disease then you would have to go to the doctor but you have no money

  • Without money we could start trading items and using items that are not needed to get other needed things.

  • If we didn't have money left on the planet ,I would think the government would start printing out notes and ration.But if the government didn't do anything I think the world would probably move to online currency like the currency 'bitcoin'!

  • I think a new currency should be Joy! Yes it is not an object but everyone has the right to be happy and joyful. This way we would have less poverty and the world would be a better place where everyone is accepted for who they are! Happiness, Joy, Respect are all key values and should be used as a sign of love to other so in my opinion they should be used as a currency, everyone would have the right to feel equal!

  • Less offensive words you have a great mindset and i totally understand your point

  • I think you could have different types of sweets like tic tacs, mentos, millions or even skittles and each colour could mean more money or less money.

  • as coins we could use rocks and as fabric and tools could be notes

  • We could trade with rocks. If it is rare like a diamond, you could buy a lot. Rocks on the beach would be a pence ( unless they are somehow sculpted into something beautiful) .

  • If not, trade. That way you and the person you are trading with are both satisfied with what you have.

  • My fourth option is buttons. Each colour stands for a different price. Same thing for the size of the buttons.

  • We would use parts of motherboards/microchips from old phones or computers. This could work because instead of throwing away old obsolete technology we could recycle parts of it to use as currency. This would reduce pollution. Depending on how each chip/piece is worth, this would mean we had different values as we do with coins/notes.