On some measures, China has already overtaken the United States as the world’s largest economy. But the US dollar retains a dominant role in the international financial system and trade.

How long will this continue? Looking to history, Barry Eichengreen’s new book Money Beyond Borders seeks to answer this question.

Review: Money Beyond Borders: Global Currencies from Croesus to Crypto by Barry Eichengreen (Princeton)

Eichengreen is a respected professor of economics and political science at the University of California. He is well qualified to write this book. As he notes in his introduction:

This is not the first book about international currencies. It is not even my first book about international currencies.

This is not the first book about international currencies. It is not even my first book about international currencies.

Traded coins date back to Ancient Greece

Throughout history, it has been usual for one currency to dominate in international transactions. Since the second world war, this has been the US dollar.

Eichengreen’s book goes all the way back to the first coins to be used internationally, the Athenian “owls”. The weight, fineness and design remained the same for centuries, helping to build confidence in the currency. Athens was a commercial hub and led the Delian League of Greek city-states.

The Roman denarius served as international currency even beyond the extensive Roman empire. It reached its maximum extent around 117 CE.

Then, by the fifth century CE, the Byzantine gold solidus was used for trade from........

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