This book is a must have for anybody that is interested in collecting or studying obsolete paper currency between the years 1782-1866. It is written by Q. David Bowers with a forward by the late Eric P. Newman. These men are two of the greatest numismatists to have lived, in my opinion. They both are personal heroes of mine. The passing of Mr. Newman was a sad day for our hobby. This book takes us back through a time when our country had more than 100,000 different combinations of denomination and design for circulating notes at one time. It was so bad, that banks and merchants handling money, had books and pamphlets with hundreds of pages telling them how to identify counterfeits and value guides of all the different currencies. The first chapter covers Early American Paper Money. It ends on chapter 21 with Obsolete Bank Notes: A State-by-State-Guide.