Paper money is an exceptional invention of human intelligence. The birth and development of paper money go hand in hand with their issuers - private and public central banks. The invention of paper money in China and Northern Europe reflects the circumstances of the creation of the first issue banks. What functions did the first central banks perform and why did they issue paper money? Why were some central banks private? What were the first emission banks in the Russian Empire? These and other questions are answered in a popular manner by the present edition. The reader will be presented with an intriguing and dramatic collision story of central banks established in the vastness of Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Using vivid national examples, the author shows why central banks have become as we currently see them.