Story of Money; 3; The Goldsmith Story
- Series
- Story of Money
- Episode Number
- 3
- Episode
- The Goldsmith Story
- Producing Organization
- WHYY (Radio station : Philadelphia, Pa.)
- Contributing Organization
- Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
- AAPB ID
- cpb-aacip/512-3x83j39v56
- NOLA Code
- STOM
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- Description
- Episode Description
- In the Middle Ages, when goldsmiths kept their precious metals in a strongbox, other, less artistic citizens used to give their gold pieces or ingots to the goldsmith for safe keeping. The smith would issue tickets, declaring that the Vicomte de G. or Milady X. had a certain amount of gold in his strongbox; he became the worlds first banker. Gradually these tickets became negotiable; the gold would gather dust in the strongbox while the tickets circulated all over Europe. And the smiths would make a tidy profit by lending the gold out at interest thus, incidentally, increasing the supply of money available. Eventually, perhaps, a smith would issue tickets for more gold than he actually had in his vaults or boxes; he kept a fractional reserve, but put the rest to use. The analogy with todays banking techniques is a fairly good one, although todays banks and bankers are involved in far more complicated transactions than those which preoccupied our Middle Ages smith. But most of our money, too, exists in the form of tickets checks drawn on accounts, or bonds and of the 140 billion dollars in circulation, only about 30 billion are in the form of currency. What are the implications of this state of affairs? Mr. Richman urges us to stay with him and find out. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Series Description
- Money is something that everyone wants - and very few understand. The series is designed to explain the nature, functions and effect of money in our economy. This sounds like a forbidding and excessively technical topic. But thanks to a lively sense of humor and some occasional guitar strumming on the part of the series host, and thanks to a good use of visuals, The Story of Money should capture and hold the viewer, and it also should provide him with a better understanding of an important subject. Each of the 12 half-hour episode deals with a different aspect of the nature of money - its origins, how it grows or decays, how it can be controlled, how its value is established. And each combines straight discussion with film clips, cartoons and songs. Donald H. Richman, host for the series, brings to ETV an impressively background. He received his BS degree in the field of education and his MA in economics at Temple University in Philadelphia, and was completing the requirements for a PhD at the University of Pennsylvania by writing a thesis titled "An Economic Analysis of Pay TV," at the time of production. He was also a member of the faculty of the department of economics at Drexel Institute of Technology in Philadelphia. For three years he had a series of programs on Philadelphia's University of the Air, and also was a permanent member of a panel group for WRCV-TV in Philadelphia. Add to this his interest in music: he has composed the scores for several theatrical groups and songs like the ones he sings during the course of The Story of Money. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
- Broadcast Date
- 1961-00-00
- Asset type
- Episode
- Media type
- Moving Image
- Credits
-
-
Director: Wilson, David
Host: Richman, Donald H.
Producer: Wilson, David
Producing Organization: WHYY (Radio station : Philadelphia, Pa.)
- AAPB Contributor Holdings
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2327927-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
-
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2327927-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
If you have a copy of this asset and would like us to add it to our catalog, please contact us.
- Citations
- Chicago: “Story of Money; 3; The Goldsmith Story,” 1961-00-00, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed May 8, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-3x83j39v56.
- MLA: “Story of Money; 3; The Goldsmith Story.” 1961-00-00. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. May 8, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-3x83j39v56>.
- APA: Story of Money; 3; The Goldsmith Story. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-3x83j39v56