A chart that is visually impressive as it is complex. One to be poured over for hours on end, to find new information methinks.
Here's a direct link to the big image
http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_vault/2013/09/16/LargeCivilWarChartFinal.jpg (http://www.slate.com/content/dam/slate/blogs/the_vault/2013/09/16/LargeCivilWarChartFinal.jpg)
Here's where I heard about it
http://io9.com/the-entire-history-of-the-american-civil-war-in-one-go-1333059346
Reminds me of Minard's map, which is considered by many to be a masterpiece of conveying information. http://visual.ly/napoleons-march-moscow-war-1812
The gold value of paper money, and the interest rate on government bonds, are both used commonly in econometrics as a measure of the strength of a government. I've seen analyses for Imperial Russia and other countries.
BTW, the value of US paper money versus a fixed amount of gold is both interesting and horrifying.