The Story of Money

This is a compendium of amazing facts about coins, and some paper money, rather than the historical or economic approach you might expect from the title. The arrangement is haphazard: it begins with an historical survey which stops at the Renaissance, then there is money from different parts of the world, and then there is some more history of money-related things like forgery and hoarding. The illustrations, mainly from the British Museum, are clear; and the text is well written for 7-11 year olds. It is a more useful text for children than you would find in, for instance, the comparable Dorling Kindersley title (included in the list of further reading) and the photographs are as good but the design and production values are a long way behind. The further reading list, mainly of coin catalogues, is pushed into a corner of the index on the last page. This is a well informed and enthusiastic book for budding coin collectors, written by the curator of the British Museum's coin collection, and up-to-date enought to mention smart cards.