Pocket money

Records show that gold and silver and copper when weighed out as bullion were being used as a method of exchange for goods and services and expressing values more than 4,000 years ago in Egypt. The first coins were made in the kingdom of Lydia in what is now Turkey in the 7th century BC. The earliest forms of paper money were authorised in China during the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and the first European banknotes were issued by Sweden in the 17th century. Today money is at the centre of our lives, though increasingly it changes hands virtually through computers and telecommunications.

Pocket Money is a concise guide to what has been said to "make the world go round". Organised in seven sections, it is a fascinating collection of facts and figures on such diverse topics as the use of salt and shells as money, money supply and notes and coins in circulation, foreign exchange and futures markets, credit cards and e-commerce, and how much people save and what they spend their money on. This pocket series brings the clarity for which The Economist is famous to the complex subjects. Designed to be easy to dip into and full of hard facts and insight, the books are intended to amuse and entertain as well as inform.