The Law Of Bank Checks

[dentldir]

For anyone interested in the history of payment systems, I found this little gem in Google's archive:

The Law Of Bank Checks

http://books.google.com/books?id=risuAAAAYAAJ&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false

So far its a fascinating read on how money started to become information.

The most striking part of it is the sheer number of citations to actual litigation since the 1760's to get things in order.

[Stephen Gornick]

The most striking part of it is the sheer number of citations to actual litigation since the 1760's to get things in order.

463 pages.  And that is copyright 1915, nearly a hundred years ago.

[dentldir]

The history parts are interesting as well.

Goldsmiths had the ability to control metal and they made strong lock boxes to hold gold.  The goldsmiths offered people 6% interest to lockup and presumably use peoples gold.  The gold was payable via notes that were written on paper.  These goldsmiths and lock boxes eventually become banks.  And there you have the basis for deposits and check writing.

I guess it never really hit me that depositing money in a bank is transferring ownership of the money to them.  The only thing you own at that point is a contract that they will give you your money back on demand or to pay it to a bearer on demand. 

Now the programmers control the information and the process begins again.

Fascinating.