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Finance ✦ Penny’s Take

The Practical Work of a Bank

William Henry Kniffin · 1980
42/100
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For financial historians and banking archivists, this 1916 manual is a genuine primary source — richly detailed, illustrated, and freely available through the Internet Archive. But as a practical banking reference, it predates the Federal Reserve System's maturation, deposit insurance, digital transactions, and a century of regulation, making it near-useless as current guidance. Its audience is narrow and specialized, and that should be reflected in the score.

✦ Penny’s Take — this is The Review Group’s own editorial assessment. Penny’s analytical review line researched this book from real sources and scored it across the lenses shown below. It’s an honest first-party read — not a page-by-page personal one. The gold ✓ Penny Tested mark is reserved for books Penny reads cover to cover herself.
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Show the math
Verdict receipt0–100
safety95
substance55
craft60
originality50
accuracy25
hype70
age-fit50
human-eye35
Penny’s verdict42
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