Pocket Money: The Essentials of Money All the Way from Cowrie Shells to Cyber Cash by The Economist
Pocket Money contains a vast range of facts and figures about money including: * What apart from notes and coins has been used as money * A chronology of money * How the value of money has changed over the years * The most stable currencies of our time and the least stable (the deutschemark has been both) * How much money has been lost over the years, including how much lottery money remains unclaimed in different countries * Biggest bank crashes and largest bank robberies * Famous scams and scandals throughout history * Richest people at different times in history; how rich was Croesus compared with Bill Gates? * Children's pocket money compared across countries * Increase in credit card transactions over time * The growth of cyber money * How prices have changed over time * Electronic trading in foreign exchange, futures and other derivatives markets And lots lots more