Continental Currency $20 banknote with marbled edge (May 10, 1775)

Marbled Money

Marbled paper was a way to make banknotes and checks unique—a critical characteristic for a nascent American Republic.
Medieval coin, sixpence of Elizabeth I dating to AD 1596

The Magic of a Crooked Sixpence

Coins were used for centuries in many ritual contexts, but the English silver sixpence was a particularly common charm—for several reasons.
An illustration of Financial fluctuations

Environmental, Social, and Governance Factors v. Fiduciary Duty

Asset managers have a fiduciary duty to act in your best interests. Does that include considering ESG factors when investing your money?
Ladies at the tellers’windows of the Fifth Avenue Bank, New York 1900

A Bank of Her Own

The first US bank for women was opened by a fraudster in 1879. It took 40 years for a reputable women’s bank to be founded in Tennessee.
close up of $1 US dollar banknote

Why is the US Dollar So Strong?

Not only did post-World War II policy give the United States a managerial position in the world order, it gave it an outsize role in shaping the global economy.
Piggy bank sinking in water

How We All Got in Debt

Consumer debt shapes American lives so thoroughly that it seems eternal and immortal, but it’s actually relatively new to the financial world.
Three pence Colonial currency from the Province of Pennsylvania. Signed by Thomas Wharton. Printed by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall, 1764

Building an Economy on Paper Money

A shortage of coined currency led Pennsylvania to begin using paper money in the 1720s. The British didn't like it, but the colonists did.
1 Dollar, Farmers' and Mechanics' Bank of Rahway, New Jersey, 1850

Banks’ Own Private Currencies in 19th-Century America

Before the Civil War local banks issued their own money. It was totally legit, too.
1837 Merchant's Exchange Hard Times Token

“Hard Times Tokens” Were Not One Cent

The counterfeit currencies issued in response to 1837’s coin shortage were worthless—or were they?
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie (1921 - 2000) addresses a Drop The Debt rally in Trafalgar Square, 13th June 1999.

Debt, History of

From debtors' prison to student loan debt, six stories from the archive.