Customer Reviews

American History as Seen Through Currency

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This is a really beautiful book. It is well written, informative, interesting, innovative and certainly beautifully manufactured. A friend found the personal references to the authors egotistical. I understand that view, but I found them interesting too. My one complaint might be a bit small, but it spoils the book for me. The point of the book is to relate United States history and United States paper money. It accomplishes that task reasonably well. The complaint is that they us the word currency in the title (and throughout) to mean paper money. In the context of the title, currency is coins and paper money. This use is common even among collectors, dealers, and auctioneers. Sadly, it is at best a poor choice.

Don't get me wrong: if you google American currency, you will not find the kind of collection of pictures you find in this book. However:

*There are a lot of repetitious entries, not always in chronological order.

*The "history" as seen through currency includes a two-page spread on Marilyn Monroe, a multi-page entry on the Titanic, entries on Wild Bill and Annie Oakley, etc., all of which do not appear on any currency.

*The book is expensive primarily because it is needlessly bound like a high school annual when the same high-quality pages could be bound at a considerably lower cost.

*You will find the high school annual feeling throughout with the authors' family pictures of their daughter going to college, their vacation to Antarctica and their visit with President Clinton and Sylvester Stallone. No, I'm not kidding.

This is by far one of the best books that I have seen on US Currency and how it relates to US History . Joanne and Ed Dauer have done a remarkable job with this publication . The book has it all from quality paper and photography to well researched historical facts. I have certanly enjoyed reading it and admiring the Dauer's collection of US Currency. P K Doudar