Money and Its Laws : Embracing a History of Monetary Theories, and a History of the Currencies of the United States

Paying particular attention to positive and customary law, Poor [1812-1905] traces the history of money from biblical times to the 1870s. More than a chronicle, this book is an ambitious work of economic theory. Though the book was generally considered a failure from a theoretical point of view, it was always esteemed for its legal perspective and review of the literature. To quote an early review in the February 1878 issue of the Atlantic Monthly, it gives the reader "all that is worth listening to in any noted writer on money from Aristotle down to the present time....The entire freedom with which the author deals with the greatest reputations makes his work extremely 'lively reading;' and even those who disagree with him cannot fail to find it entertaining" (266).