Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums Recommended Resources Evolution/History of Currency Resource?

This is a direct piggyback off the Stock/Finance/Econometric Resources thread...

DS7 is down the "money" rabbit trail in a big way right now. It's not just our money, it's really about currency as a whole. I know "currency" hasn't always been money and has been around since the beginning of time, but has anyone seen an "evolution of currency" or "history/evolution of financial systems" or even a comparison of varying financial systems used worldwide that would be accessible at this age? (This age defined as 5th grade reading level or below). We've visited local mints and even colonial mint museums, but he's looking for something deeper than "this is what money looks like".

Note: a video set would be even better than a book as the depth of learning would not be limited to eye motor skills.

DS read one or two of those resource books probably around the same age. I don't remember the exact names because they are not part of our personal library. We borrowed them from the public library. One of them was a DK book, with lots of pictures of different currencies as well as a good amount of text on the country/history. Not sure if it was from the DK book, but I seem to recall something about the history of currencies as well because DS wanted to discuss it with me.

This might be a bit mature, but I'm a huge fan of Niall Ferguson. The book upon which this PBS special is based is extremely well written and researched:

http://video.pbs.org/program/ascent-of-money/