Top of page
Posted by: Natalie Burclaff
Railroad industrialist Jay Gould and stockbroker Jim Fisk artificially drove up the gold market in 1869 in a scheme that resulted in a dramatic price crash on September 24, 1869, known as Black Friday. This post looks at three political cartoons that depict the players involved in the 1869 Gold Crisis.
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
If you are interested in cryptocurrencies or fintech more broadly, we have recently updated our Fintech: Financial Technology Research Guide.
Posted in: Business, Business Reference Guides, Money
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Interested in the credit card industry? The Library's collection includes a few resources you may want to know about.
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Business Reference has a new guide that includes material in the American Bankers Association pamphlet collection!
Posted in: Business, Business Reference Guides, Money
Posted by: Natalie Burclaff
While going through a pamphlet collection on banking history for her Junior Fellow project, guest author Kelsey Moore takes an interest in two pamphlets on North American shell money, also known as wampum, which circulated before the rise of silver and gold in the colonies.
Posted in: Money, Native American History
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Today’s guest post is by Anastasia “Tasha” Binkowski. Tasha is a Librarian-in-Residence working in the Rare Book & Special Collections and Manuscript Divisions. The Early American Paper Money Collection, newly rehoused in Rare Book and Special Collections at the Library of Congress, probably isn’t like any money you’ve ever seen before. These bills are roughly …
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Almost a year ago fellow blogger Yvonne Dooley did a post about the Grand Watermelon whose design was intended to thwart counterfeiting – and when it comes to money, counterfeiting is the persistent problem. One early publication that bankers used in the fight against this scourge was Thompson’s Bank Note and Commercial Reporter, which was …
Posted in: Business, Favorites From the Fifth Floor, Money
Posted by: Ellen Terrell
Since the Treasury’s announcement in April that Harriet Tubman would be featured on the front of the new $20 bill, the design change has become a popular topic of conversation. Mention of the note even surfaced in President Obama’s speech at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, where he jokingly remarked that he would be earning …
Posted by: Donna Scanlon
On today’s date in 1785 the Continental Congress set the dollar as the official currency of the new United States. Also on this date it was Resolved “That the several pieces shall increase in a decimal ratio.” As a side note Thomas Jefferson wrote on this very topic in “Notes on the establisment[!] of a …
Posted in: Business, Heritage Months, Holidays, and Today in History, Money