Description

• The Story of Money is a vintage educational comic book published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (Third Edition, 1981). Illustrated by veteran comic artist Al Wenzel with script by D.H. Friedman and C.J. Parnow, this booklet uses full-color sequential art to tell two interconnected stories: how societies developed a common medium of exchange to trade goods, and how money evolved alongside human economic interdependence.

  Starting from ancient barter systems and early coinage—including Babylonia, Lydia, Chinese Tao, ancient Greece, and Colonial America—the comic guides readers through to modern U.S. coins, Federal Reserve notes, and checkbook deposit money. Vintage Federal Reserve educational comics from this era are sought-after collectibles among numismatists, comic historians, and ephemera enthusiasts.

  Key Topics Covered:

  • Ancient currencies and early trade (Babylonia 2,500 B.C., Lydia, Chinese Tao, Pine Tree Shilling 1652)

  • The primary functions of money: medium of exchange, unit of account, and store of value

  • Breakdown of U.S. Money circulations as of 1980 (coins, paper currency, checkbook deposit money)

  • How commercial banks create checkbook deposit money through lending

• Condition: Very Good (Vintage collectible comic booklet in crisp condition; minor edge wear and light natural age toning on newsprint stock; clean interior without markings or tears)