He had always been fascinated by money, from as early as he could remember. It seemed like a magic thing to him, the way little bits of metal and pieces of paper could buy things. Payment in kind made sense, the barter system made sense; you do my plumbing, I give you potatoes. Simple and elegant. But the whole money thing seemed like an act of faith, a party trick that everyone would see through one day. What made this bit of paper twice as valuable as another? Or this one five times more valuable than that one? They were about the same size, had pretty much the same pictures. What if everyone woke up and decided it was the other way around?