Abstract

This essay offers a concise reconstruction of the evolution of money in the West. The author describes a long-term oscillation between two opposites: the secular phase of ‘monetary polytheism’ has been followed by a ‘monotheistic’ period based on the monetary sovereignty and the gold standard regime. The more recent affirmation of a purely fiduciary form of money finally seems to pave the way for a singular return of ‘monetary polytheism’, thanks also to the technical possibility of giving rise to new forms of private money, free from the public regulation and control of political authority