Money: *

Alexa is 8 years old and is interested in checking things out. She has the book "Money" that describes old money. She saw this and said, "Grandpa, I need that book to check out new money". She reads and re-reads the book all the time.

"The earliest reports of payments with cowrie shells were from China about 3,500 years ago." The first thing I noticed on the first page was the heart-shaped English brass halfpenny token from 1665. I've seen a lot of coins, but had no idea that they could be in so many shapes. From the Ancient Chinese bronze hoe-shaped coin of the 6th century to the square Indian gold mohur of the 17th century, there is a coin for every taste and collection. There is information on funny money, the first coins, paper money, how coins are made, how banknotes are made, forgery and fakes, money and trade, money in war, power, shared currencies, checks and plastic and coin collections. The countries features include ancient cultures, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan and African countries. "The name for a piggy bank comes from pygg, a type of clay used in Middle Ages to make pots for money and other thing. The idea to make banks in the shape of pigs probably came from the similarity of the words." If we could still pay with shells, many of us would probably spend a lot more time at the beach. Some of the most fascinating "money" in this book includes red feathers glued together and tied onto vegetable-fiber coils. Writing a check on a cow? That has to be the strangest thing I've heard about money. This book has the most bizarre tales about money and also has a special section on coin collecting, how to store them and why you should note store them in a plastic envelope. Other features: Timeline of Banking Glossary with Pictures It is truly amazing how humans went from stone money to transferring money directly into our checking accounts. This book reminded me of visiting a place in Africa where a man told me if I could lift a gold bar with one hand I could have the gold. I did try. There is a picture of the Federal Reserve Bank in New York where one-third of all the monetary gold in the world is found in special cages. "When one country sells gold to another, it is moved between the cages by workers wearing shoe covers to protect their feet from dropped bricks." The most fun you will ever have reading about money. ~The Rebecca Review

I'm a teacher and I find the Eyewitness books highly educational. I like the way the concepts are presented in a form without backgrounds. This gives clear facts to the reader without over taxing the attention span. The books are highly informative, presenting difficult concepts in comprehendable chunks that stimulate interest. I have almost the whole collection for my own children and they LOVE them!

DK eyewitness books are some of the greatest non-fiction books around. The distinctive white background and high-quality photography gives this book an edge over any other nonfiction picture book. And -- these pictures are real! They're beautiful photos of all things related to money, accompanied by informative captions and text. This book isn't the strongest in the series, but it is interesting, and the museum-quality pictures will have the reader involved to the end.

Wonderful overview of money - from earliest time to present day. Tremendous photographic illustrations which include wonderful visual and written detail. For information or simple enjoyment this book and the series it belongs to are a good buy.