ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Banknote

Okay kiddo, I can explain banknotes to you like you're five years old!

You know how sometimes you have money that you keep in your piggy bank that you got from your allowance or from your birthday? Well, grown-ups also need money to buy things they need, like food or clothes or toys. But instead of keeping all their money in a piggy bank, they keep it in a place called a bank.

Now, when grown-ups want to use their money to buy something, they don’t usually carry around lots of coins and bills with them because it can be heavy and bulky. So, banks came up with a solution to help their customers carry their money more easily.

Banks created special pieces of paper, called banknotes. They have a special design on them that tells you how much money they are worth. So, if you have a banknote that says it’s worth $10, you can use it to buy something that costs $10.

Banknotes are printed by the government, so they make sure that they all look the same and that they can’t be easily copied or faked. They use special machines to put special designs and features on the banknotes to make sure they are real.

When you want to use your banknote, you just give it to the person you’re buying something from, like at a store. They’ll give you change if you need it, just like when you go to the store with your mom or dad.

In summary, a banknote is a special piece of paper with a design that tells you how much money it’s worth. It helps grown-ups carry their money more easily and it’s printed by the government to make sure it’s real.