What is money anyway, and where and why did it originate? According to Jacob Goldstein, this made-up thing has evolved over centuries and takes different forms based on technological advances, the needs of society, and often the crazy ideas of outliers on the fringes. Told through witty, historical anecdotes, Goldstein demystifies this ever-evolving tool from the invention of the first coins in Mesopotamia, to how China invented paper money centuries before it appeared in the west, how at one point in Sweden men carried giant "coins" on their backs to pay for goods, to the gold standard, pound sterling, origins of the Euro, mutual funds, bitcoin and a cashless society.