Zen and the Art of Banking

Ahh Glasshopper, you have much to learn about banking....

Some people will associate the grasshopper with Barclays Bank, some even with Martins Bank, the old bank that Barclays absorbed. But the date here - 1563 - is a clue to its origins with Thomas Gresham, and the foundation of British banking.

You can read the story of Thomas Gresham and how he save the Pound from oblivion here, the Martin's Bank history on the site here, for the 68 Lombard Street Site. (The whole Martins Bank site is worth exploring, too.)