1. INTRODUCTION 2. FROM THE COIN'S POINT OF VIEW 3. THE INVENTION OF COINS 4. THE FIRST NUMISMATISTS 5. THE SECOND WAVE 6. SCIENCE AND PSEUDOSCIENCE 7. FINDING HOARDS 8. UNDERSTANDING HOARDS 9. THE ETHOS AND ETHICS OF COLLECTING 10. THE JOURNEY CONTINUES

"Likeable.... It also conveys something very important: holding a coin that someone else held two thousand years ago creates a special feeling of connectedness." -- London Review of Books "The author's enthusiasm for both coins and history of numismatics renders this slim volume positively unputdownable." -- Ivana Petrovic, Greece and Rome "An excellent read and provides valuable insights into coins, the people who minted them, and now the people who study them." -- Journal of the Oriental Numismatic Society "When Money Talks should be required reading for economists, historians, archaeologists, classicists, sociologists, and contemporary scholars, each of whose fields, among others, can benefit from better understanding money and its use." -- David Hendin, American Numismatic, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "Holt's tour de force is his anecdotal history of coins and money.... Holt advocates for a multi-disciplinary field called "cognitive numismatics"...that the subtleties of history, economics, and other fields can gain a lot from the study of material artifacts such as the coins they used." -- David Hendin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "When a perfect author connects with his perfect subject, a book like When Money Talks is born. I found something I wanted to learn (or be reminded of) on almost every page. Holt is a specialist who has written a needed book for generalists. Using popular and academic themes, he explains numismatics in a broader context than it is usually understood.... When Money Talks should be required reading for economists, historians, archaeologists, classicists, sociologists, and contemporary scholars, each of whose fields, among others, can benefit from better understanding money and its use." -- David Hendin, Bryn Mawr Classical Review "There really is no other book like this. Holt explores the origins of money in the form of coinage and the history of the discipline that studies it (numismatics) in a highly readable and entertaining fashion. His ability to simplify difficult concepts and find the perfect analogy is remarkable, as is the breadth of his knowledge of money from the ancient world to the world of today." -- Peter van Alfen, American Numismatic Society "A genuinely fascinating book, full of ideas as well as facts: why we need money, how it has evolved, what forms it might take in the future. It is a general book by a genuine specialist, and it offers up expertise alongside a survey of his field and its history." --iThe New Yorkerr "A holistic and creative introduction to an often-underappreciated subject -- readily accessible to those with no prior knowledge of numismatics, but equally a thought-provoking must-read for specialists." -- Liv Mariah Yarrow, CUNY "Frank Holt's books are always interesting and usually groundbreaking... His books approach their given subjects with both wit and wisdom. Holt also has a way with words whose flow carries the general reader along with little effort. This book is no exception. It is surely the distillation of decades' worth of study of, and fascination with, ancient coins - witness the book's 30 pages of endnotes and 16 pages of select bibliography- but Holt always wears his learning lightly... When Money Talks is both accessible to anyone without any prior knowledge of numismatics and engrossing for experts in the field... Not only is the focus on the historical dimension of coins made clear, but so is the personal take on what will follow. Holt takes us by the hand for a tour that is intimate but no less scholarly for that." -- Mouseion

Selling point: Provides a fast-paced, illustrated history of coins and numismatics from ancient to modern times Selling point: Offers new methods of understanding and analyzing coins as historical evidence Selling point: Situates the subject within the broader contexts of pop culture and literature

Frank L. Holt is Professor of History at the University of Houston. His previous books include The Treasures of Alexander the Great: How One Man's Wealth Shaped the World, Lost World of the Golden King: In Search of Ancient Afghanistan, and Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan. In addition to his large body of academic work, Holt is also a prolific writer for the public, with essays appearing in Newsweek, American Scientist, Archaeology, History Today, Archaeology Odyssey, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Saudi Aramco World, and other widely read publications.

Selling point: Provides a fast-paced, illustrated history of coins and numismatics from ancient to modern times Selling point: Offers new methods of understanding and analyzing coins as historical evidence Selling point: Situates the subject within the broader contexts of pop culture and literature