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Greenberg's depictions show that bank notes were more alive to people than money today and that each transaction required a keen eye and careful negotiation. The first covers the major players in the market and how bank notes were used in transactions, the second examines the physical nature of bank notes, and the third highlights how personal experiences with bank notes influenced political leanings and movements. Most chapters focus on bank notes before 1840 (though there are scattered examples going forward in time), whereas the last chapter discusses how the issue of greenbacks and standardized national bank notes during the Civil War replaced the chaotic bank note system. [Extracted from the article]