The Bank of England pull back the curtain on how money really works, and what happens when it doesn’t.

Where does money come from? What gives a £1 coin its value? And whose job is it to actually print banknotes?

Most of us think about money every day. But we tend not to think about how weird it is: a totally abstract concept, built entirely on trust, which somehow makes the whole world function.

The Bank of England know more about money than most – after all, they are the ones responsible for making sure it works. Now, the Bank answer all the questions about money that you’ve never thought to ask – from what makes money money, to how private banks create money every time they give out a loan, to what happens to cash when it’s past its sell by date (it’s often moulded into garden furniture, as it turns out). Along the way, they offer your one-stop guide to how money really works – and where it might be going next.

Rupal Patel and Jack Leslie are economists at the Bank of England, the UK’s central bank. Founded in 1694, the Bank is responsible for printing money, setting interest rates and regu­lating the financial sector. Since 2017, the Bank’s staff have been on a mission to promote economic literacy across the UK: delivering talks in schools, running Citizens’ Panels on people’s economic experiences, and publishing the bestselling primer on economics Can’t We Just Print More Money?.