Full title reads: "The root of all evil - money!"

British Museum, London.

A look at history of coins and money.

C/U of man reaching into trouser pocket, he pulls out an old penny. M/S of the man using the coin to buy a newspaper from a street vendor.

Animated sequence showing "some interesting facts about that humble coin": a cartoon of a Victorian penny rolls along screen writing appears behind it. Facts appear, such as; "five pennies measure six inches" and "three new pennies weigh exactly one ounce".

Various extreme C/Us of ancient coins; Roman Denarius, pennies from 757 A.D., coins from time of Alfred the Great, William the Conqueror, Henry III, Henry VIII and tiny solder pennies used on Maundy Monday, copper coins of Charles II, 2000 year old coins, coins from biblical age, the Syracuse Demaretion of 480 B.C., odd shape coins made by castles in siege during reign of Charles I. In several shots, a contemporary penny is laid next to them for comparison. Various C/Us of coins that where divided - a dollar with a quarter cut from it, a coin divided into 'four things' (i.e. farthings). C/U of woman holding large slab of Swedish copper. C/U of woman's hands turning old coins over.

Various shots of scrap metal collection in Italy. Various shots crowds entering a cinema, comically they pay for their tickets by adding to pile of scrap iron beside box office. C/U of bookmaker taking bets. L/S of horses racing at race course. Animated sequence of odd little man collecting junk in a wheel barrow, he wears a stack of hats. Narrator comments that one day maybe we will go back to bartering. Cartoon is by Joe Noble.