“Cash, please”
Money was invented almost 3,000 years ago and plays a central role in our daily lives. We can use it to find out how much goods and services cost and to pay for things, or we can saveit, as it conserves its value over time. We have various means of payment at our disposal, but we still love banknotes and coins. Grab your headphones and learn about cash and why it is so important.
“In times of uncertainty, in any kind of crisis, whether a natural disaster or a financial or political crisis, we central banks find that people demand more cash than usual. People want to have a store of value.”
How and why was money invented? How has it evolved from when? the first coins were minted to its present form? Will it eventually become digital?
Money is one of humankind’s great inventions and has enabled society to organise around the exchange of goods and services, with money fulfilling three key functions. First, as a means of payment in our day-to-day transactions (cash is preferred by private individuals and in physical shops). Second, as a unit of account, a way of measuring the value of goods and services, setting their price. And third, as a store of value, something we can put away today knowing that it will still be valuable tomorrow.
And although the earliest forms of money had intrinsic value, today’s banknotes and coins are barely worth the paper or metal they’re made of, and they can’t be exchanged for gold or silver, for instance. So why do we attach such value to money?
Today, the value of money comes from people’s trust in it, and central banks work to keep that value stable, whether in the form of cash, a computer entry in a bank account or a possible digital euro.
Our trust in coins and banknotes gives us a sense of security in the face of uncertainty. According to María José Fernández Lupiáñez, director of the Cash Department, people demand more cash in times of crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the outbreak of the war in Ukraine or, more recently, the blackout in Spain on 28 April 2025, a few days after this episode was recorded.
Producing money has always required considerable technical and artistic resources, and this is especially true nowadays, to guarantee not just the security and authenticity of banknotes and coins, but also the efficiency and sustainability of each stage of the cash production process, from the cotton substrate used to make euro banknotes, to packaging them, and all the different printing processes along the way.
But at the Banco de España not only do we issue and put money into circulation, we also ensure that it is available to households and businesses in good condition and that it is genuine, coordinating our work with many public and private organisations.
When banknotes become damaged from use or as a result of accidents or natural disasters, the Banco de España is responsible for taking them out of circulation and replacing them with new ones.
Notes
The background music playing while María José tells us how money has evolved was composed and gifted to her department by Manuel López, a retired Bank employee. It represents coins and banknotes in the form of notes and rhythms and lends it name to the title of this episodes.
The interview was recorded in the entrance hall of our head offices at Alcalá 522, where a dialogue is created between a group of sculptures.
