The story of money is the story of trust.
Shells, silver, paper, code. We follow the coins, the banks, the crashes and the people who made them, one carefully sourced story at a time.
Eight thousand years, one line.
Every documentary pinned to the era it covers. Hover a marker to see the story; click to watch.
27 BC – AD 312No. 007The Spanish Treasure Fleets: How Silver Ruined Spain
1545 – 1650No. 004The Great Depression Explained: The Money That Vanished
1929 – 1933No. 008Smoot-Hawley: The Tariff Nobody Actually Voted For
1930 – 1934
From the archive
No. 00711:08The Spanish Treasure Fleets: How Silver Ruined Spain
The Spanish piece of eight never lost a grain of silver in three centuries. It was the most trusted coin on Earth, legal tender from Amsterdam to Manila to…
No. 00610:45118 Elements Tried to Be Money. Only Gold Survived.
Out of one hundred and eighteen elements on the periodic table, humanity ended up using one as money.
No. 00510:49The Economics of the Roman Empire's Collapse
The economics of the Roman Empire's collapse, explained through one object: a Roman silver coin from the year two hundred and seventy that has almost no…
No. 0049:32The Great Depression Explained: The Money That Vanished
The Great Depression explained through the part most retellings leave out: between 1929 and 1933, roughly one-third of America’s money supply disappeared.
No. 00311:50The Complete History of Banking: From Temples to Apps
The complete history of banking, from the clay-tablet loans of ancient Mesopotamian temples to the banking app on your phone.
No. 00210:10What Is Money, Really? The Ultimate Guide to Currency and Value
What is money, really? A hundred-dollar bill is just cotton and linen with ink on it, and yet people trade hours of their lives for it.