Pictures From a Distant Country: Seeing America Through Paper Money

Everyone knows there is only one form of American currency—the greenback—and that it’s issued by the federal government. But this arrangement has not always been the rule: for much of our nation’s history there was no federal currency in circulation. Instead, currency was issued by private banks and other businesses. These pieces of private money, called obsolete bank notes, form the basis of this outstanding new book by Richard Doty, senior curator of the Smithsonian’s National Numismatic ...