I have never been much interested in money, other than wondering how much I could safely spend at any given time. And that may be quite obvious, if everybody but me knows these two terms: specie money, and fiat money. The site I found them on is both clear and interesting; I clicked all over the place, and the only disappointment I had was that the specie money link wasn't there yet. So, if you're looking for something to pass the time, try
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Banknotes

I liked the phrase that in order to qualify for use as money, a commodity had to be "reasonably scarce". - The replacement of specie money by fiat money probably came with the general insight that even the value of gold depends very much on circumstances. Among a crowd of starving people, it is rather useless.

Paper money, at least, you can eat.

Paper money, at least, you can eat.

Okay, I have a bunch of five rupee notes left over from my last trip to India. You can eat those if you like. Have you made your funeral plans and your will, yet?

I got my first look at the new US $20 bill today. They've added a peach color to it, but it still didn't look very appetizing.

Paper money, at least, you can eat. Termites are better adapted in this respect, than humans.