68 courses now open. Each course is built from goals, lessons, readings, and review with exercises.
Curious about today’s money
Watch a video on cash and deposits, then read how banks work.
Start from a historical crisis
Follow the 2008 financial crisis through what happened to one fund.
Love looking at coins
Pick a coin you like and see when it was made and how it was used.
When you hold a coin, where should you look? Reading the lettering, measuring the weight, finding out when it was made — the basics of looking at coins.
Is It Really True? Checking History
We re-examine the origins of money and famous anecdotes, comparing them with historical records and actual artifacts.
Were the two coins made with the same tool? Opens when you register
When the reverses of two silver coins are placed side by side, even the position of the letters is identical.
Interpreting Coins from Weight and Purity Opens when you register
We will compare weights and metal proportions to investigate differences in standards and wear using numerical data.
Deciphering the Images and Text on Coins Opens when you register
We will compare portraits, animals, coats of arms, and text to consider what the issuer intended to communicate.
Money, Read Through Events Opens when you register
Bubbles, fraud, and financial crises. We will trace how money was accumulated, moved, and lost through cases that really happened.
What Excavated Coins Tell Us Opens when you register
We investigate the period and location of use from the types and dates of coins found together.
Reading the Inscriptions on Coins Opens when you register
We will use abbreviations and dates as clues to determine who made a coin, when, and where.
Discovering Historical Questions Through Comparison Opens when you register
Learn the method of comparing the same coins or systems with those of other countries and eras to investigate the reasons for their differences.
Coin Provenance and Rules for Buying and Selling Opens when you register
Where does a coin come from? Learn about the records to check before buying or selling, and the relevant laws.
Examining and Documenting Coins Opens when you register
Observe photographs, compare potential attributions and dates, and document the evidence for your research.
Storing and Caring for Old Coins Opens when you register
Learn to distinguish between dirt and traces of alteration, and study the handling and storage methods you should know before cleaning.
Fraud Schemes and How to Protect Yourself
How to respond to phone calls claiming to be from the police or to high-pressure solicitations.
Deciphering Amounts, Percentages, and Statements Opens when you register
Learn to compare figures for interest rates, fees, and prices, and where to find them in statements and contracts.
How Banks, Interest Rates, and Prices Work Opens when you register
Your pay has not changed, yet the same shopping as last year now adds up to a bigger receipt.
Household Finances, Housing, and Retirement Funds Opens when you register
From monthly income and expenses to borrowing, housing, and retirement. We will organize the necessary funds according to their timing.
How Taxes, Pensions, and Social Insurance Work Opens when you register
Why do we pay, and when do we receive benefits? We will examine the connection between your contributions and the system.
Understanding the Basics of Saving and Investing Opens when you register
We will compare time, diversification, fees, and prices, and organize the factors for making decisions when growing and protecting your money.
Cash, Cards, and Digital Money Opens when you register
When is the payment made, and who manages the balance? We will compare new ways to pay.
Financial Decisions and Psychological Biases Opens when you register
We will consider how the desire to avoid loss and concerns about reputation influence shopping and financial decisions.
Finding Financial Information and Advice Opens when you register
We will learn how to verify things that catch our attention in the news or in solicitations by checking with official sources and experts.
From before the first coin to the present, age by age. One book per age, read with images of coins and a short exercise at the end of each chapter.
Grasping the History of Money at a Glance Opens when you register
From before the birth of coins to banks and digital payments. We will survey the changes in money through the ages.
Where Did Money Come From? Opens when you register
Tracing the origins of money, from ancient ledgers and metal paid by weight to stamped coins.
Tracing the Era of the Gold Standard Opens when you register
How did money tied to gold change trade and banking? We will trace the developments in various countries during the 19th century.
The History of Money in Japan — Rice, Coins, Silver Opens when you register
Payments in rice and cloth, coins from across the sea, koban and silver. We will trace the history of money in Japan up to the early modern period.
Birth, debasement, forgery, paper money, inflation. Things that happened again and again in the history of money, set side by side across the ages.
Comparing the Origins of Money Opens when you register
We will compare early coinage from Lydia, China, and India, which differed in shape and method of production.
The History of Jewish Life and Finance Opens when you register
We will consider the relationship with finance and its narratives, drawing from records of occupational constraints, commerce, tax collection, and lending.
Why the Composition of Gold and Silver Coins Changed Opens when you register
We will examine what happened to trade and people's lives when the amount of metal in coins of the same face value changed.
Face Value and Intrinsic Value Opens when you register
The stated value, the metal content, and the quantity of goods one can buy. We will consider these as separate measures of worth.
What Did Rulers and States Communicate Through Coins? Opens when you register
We will compare the faces of kings and national emblems to examine instances where coinage carried political messages.
Shrines, Temples, Faith, and Money Opens when you register
English 'money', French 'monnaie', German 'Münze'. All derive from the name of the temple of the goddess Juno Moneta on a Roman hill.
How Were Coins Made? Opens when you register
Casting metal, hammering, striking with a machine. We will examine the differences in manufacturing methods by looking at the shapes of actual coins.
Who Paid for the Wars? Opens when you register
We will trace the costs of war and where the burden fell by examining taxes, debt, paper money, and reparations.
History of Counterfeit Coins and Banknotes Opens when you register
There was a man who published pamphlets advocating for mint reform, while secretly continuing to make counterfeit coins.
Money That Is No Longer Used Opens when you register
There are four patterns for when a currency ceases to serve its role.
Why can banknotes be used as money? Opens when you register
From notes exchangeable for metal to notes that do not promise exchange. We will compare the systems that support banknotes.
The History of Coin Collecting Opens when you register
From princely collections to museums. We trace the changing purposes of collecting and methods of record-keeping.
Materials of Coins and Banknotes Opens when you register
Gold, silver, copper, paper. We will examine the properties of the materials used for money and the reasons they were chosen.
History of Banks and Credit Opens when you register
Transacting with strangers and paying over long distances. At such times, someone verifies the other party and underwrites the risk of non-payment.
Why Do Prices Rise? Opens when you register
We will examine historical price rises using the quantity of money, the supply of goods, and trust in the system as clues.
Japanese Money and Law Opens when you register
We will read what the law stipulates about the yen, banknotes, coins, and deposits.
Money Used Across Borders Opens when you register
Athenian owl tetradrachms, 8-reales, dollars. We will compare the conditions that allowed currencies to be accepted abroad.
Connecting Cash, Deposits, and the Central Bank Opens when you register
From account balances to bank ledgers. We examine in detail the connections between lending, settlement, government bonds, and the central bank.
The Unification of a Country and Money Opens when you register
When a country unifies, what happens to its disparate currencies? We will compare the processes of standardization.
Currencies that unite, currencies that divide Opens when you register
Alliances, unification, independence. Learn about the advantages and difficulties when multiple countries use the same money.
The people who changed money, and the choices they made — how people in different ages answered the same worry.
The Origins of Money in Lydia, China, and India Opens when you register
We will compare the early coinage of the three regions to consider their commonalities and the extent to which they can be said to have been invented independently.
Why did rulers' faces appear on coins? Opens when you register
We examine the relationship between currency and power through the portraits of kings, emperors, and republican leaders.
Coins that depict faces, coins that speak with text Opens when you register
We compare Byzantine and Islamic coinage and consider the relationship between design and faith.
Queens on Coins Opens when you register
Cleopatra, Elizabeth, Maria Theresa. We will look at their respective eras through their portraits and monetary policies.
Monetary Reforms of the Roman Empire Opens when you register
From Nero to Diocletian. We trace how the emperors changed the composition and system of money.
Considering "Bad money drives out good" Opens when you register
What happens when money of different intrinsic values is used at the same face value? We will learn the conditions and history of this law.
Who decides the value of money? Opens when you register
Using the arguments of John Law and Ogiwara Shigehide as a starting point, we will consider the relationship between material and face value.
The People Who Changed Edo's Money Opens when you register
Lowering and restoring the gold and silver content. We will examine the decisions and debates surrounding recoinage during the Edo period.
Those Who Made Counterfeit Money, and Those Who Pursued Them Opens when you register
We trace the history of the forgery and investigation from the records of Chaloner, Newton, and others.
The People Who Linked and Severed Gold and Paper Money Opens when you register
Newton, Ricardo, Nixon. We examine the decisions surrounding the gold standard through the people and the times.
When the Credit of Paper Money Collapsed Opens when you register
What happened before paper money fell out of use? We will examine the decisions of those who tried to support the system.
Those Who Collected Coins Opens when you register
We trace what kings, scholars, and collectors chose and how they preserved it, exploring collections from a human perspective.
Silver Coins that Crossed the World Opens when you register
Potosí, Manila, China, Japan. We will trace the paths where silver was mined, transported, and used.
The People Who Unified Nations and Changed Money Opens when you register
We trace the stories of Alexander, Qin Shi Huang, Charlemagne, and the Meiji Reforms through the unification of their currencies.
Philosophy, anthropology, literature, art history. Money seen afresh from neighbouring fields.
The People Who Contemplated Money Opens when you register
Is it metal, or is it a promise? We will examine the debates of philosophers and thinkers alongside historical examples.
Gifts, Lending/Borrowing, and Money Opens when you register
We will explore the relationship between money and human connections, using gifts, debt, and ritual objects as our guide.
Money as Depicted in Literature Opens when you register
We will examine life in past eras by reading about payments, poverty, and wealth as they appear in the works of Homer and in Japanese classics.
Dollar, Yen, Bank—The Origin of Words Opens when you register
We will trace the path by which the names of weights, places, and tools became words for money.
Disasters, Epidemics, and Money Opens when you register
During famines and earthquakes, how did prices and payments change? We will consider this based on Japanese records.
Medals, Stamps, Bills of Exchange, and Money Opens when you register
We will compare objects similar to coins and those used in their place to consider what fulfills the role of money.
Enjoying Coins as Art Opens when you register
Engraving, profiles, placement of text. We will compare the designs packed into small coins.
Comparing Past Prices and Salaries Opens when you register
How much would a Roman soldier's annual salary be today? We will learn about the yardsticks for comparison and the limits of calculation.
How the State and Taxes Support Money Opens when you register
We will examine the relationship between acceptance for taxes and the circulation of money, drawing on academic theories and historical records.
Considering Digital Money from a Historical Perspective Opens when you register
Will payments continue even without cash? We compare past finance with current digital payments.
Price
After purchase, the full courses, the illustrated books, every country’s story and the numismatics examination are open to you.
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