The Art of Money: The History and Design of Paper Currency from Around the World |
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The Art of Money: The History and Design of Paper Currency from Around the World
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by David Standish
Sales Rank: 404460
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$13.45
At Amazon
on 6-21-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 132 pages
Published by: Chronicle Books November 1, 2000
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 0811828050
ISBN 13 Number: 978-0811828055
Book Dimensions:
8.7 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
Weighs: 1.2 pounds
From Publishers Weekly
Beginning with the sunflowers on the Netherlands' 50-gulden note (Standish loves them) and ending with the redesigned American fives, tens and twenties (hates them), Standish's handsome, offbeat and color reproduction-stuffed volume displays and describes the world's various paper moneys. Standish, a journalist and former Playboy articles editor, sometimes looks at currency design as a matter of pure aestheticsDwhat colors, where? What kinds of lines, and why? But he also shows how "countries project their self-image through their money," recording their history and deciding what they want their visitors to see. He includes the "tough guys"Dmythic rebels and pre-Columbian godsDon much Latin American dinero; the engraved airplanes on Singapore's money, which promote its national airline; and the countenance of Queen Elizabeth, which graces more nationalities' cash than any other phiz. A "Short History of Money" explains, and depicts, the evolution of coinage and then of bills in Greece, Rome and medieval China, whose reliance on bills gave it, in the 10th century, "the world's first hyperinflation." A final chapter surveys American money, which at various points depicted Washington crossing the Delaware, Ben Franklin with a kite, and "Pocahontas getting baptized." The careful photography of Tony Armour and Joshua Dunn and an very fine job of productionDcrisp, fine-grained paper and true-to-bill colorsDreproduce the experience of handling all this exotic cash. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Most folks don't pay much heed to the artistic aspects of paper money, perhaps, Standish hazards, because U.S. currency tends to be, well, "dull-looking." When he, an experienced traveler and currency changer, "calmed down enough to begin looking carefully" at other countries' currency, he discovered that it was "flat-out gorgeous." Starting with the Netherlands' strikingly attractive 50-guilden note, Standish assesses the artistic merits and imparts brief histories of many of those other peoples' moneys. The bills' colorful illustrations and inspired page layout make the book uncommonly enjoyable. The chapter on U.S. currency at the end of the book underscores the earlier observation that it isn't as attractive as those of other nations but also demonstrates that it used to be much more artful and colorful--and the old notes lacked the urgent, bug-eyed asymmetry of the newest U.S. bills. A book so entertaining and so informative that many libraries should consider purchasing circulating and reference copies, the latter to be kept in mint condition, of course. Mike Tribby
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Reader Reviews
Clearly this book is not directed to specialists in the field of world paper money collecting, though many dealers, it seems, are happy just to have something glossy and well-produced to entice people into joining the hobby. Yes, the book is pretty, and yes, it is entertaining. Unfortunately, it ignores an important issue that is at the core of paper money: politics. Why do some paper money designs change while others remain the same? Why do some countries put their leaders' pictures on their money while others would never do such a thing (at least not until they are dead)? Why do pounds become dinars, cruzados become reals, etc.? The book leaves the reader with the impression that the designs on paper money are hardly more than a celebration of a country's cultural and technological accomplishments, but there is more than that... This is why the book ultimately falls short: By studying the art of money only as an end rather than as a means to an end, a vast -- and fascinating -- dimension of the story is lost. Hopefully there will be other books on the topic that go beyond this initial effort.
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The Art of Money: The History and Design of Paper Currency from Around the World
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Price: $13.45
Updated on 6-21-2008.
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