Review: The History of Money

The History of Money by Jack Weatherford
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

According to Herodotus, the Lydians were the first people to use gold and silver coins and the first to establish retail shops in permanent locations. This statement of Herodotus is one of the pieces of evidence often cited in behalf of the argument that Lydians invented coinage, at least in the West, even though the first coins were neither gold nor silver but an alloy of the two called electrum. This book covers an arc from before the first coinage to the predicted, cash-less future. As such, it is a breathless ride. There are couple of points of fact that give me pause on considering the reliability of this author's research. First, the author states "In God We Trust", which first appeared on U.S. coins in 1864 and has appeared on paper currency since 1957 (thank you, Ike), replaced the silver basis for the dollar. However, there is really a decade came there as they were printed through 1964: "Silver Certificates could be redeemed for silver until 1968. Although still considered a valid currency, Silver Certificates have not been issued since 1965." (I collected the "In God We Trust" transitional bills, so knew both still were redeemable in silver.) Then, the author claims Diocletian, Roman emperor from 284 to 305, switched confiscatory state persecution of Christians from them to pagans since pagans had the wealth Christians didn't, makeing it an economic policy. I don't think the emperor was moved by miracles or faith and also doubt the political scheming as being a significant motive for a ruler responsible for an empire-wide persecution that has been considered to be one of the bloodiest and most ruthless persecutions in the history.

View all my reviews