While the proverb “a bad penny always turns up” refers to an undesirable person or thing that will always return or repeat, this metaphor of the “bad penny” stems from the very real problem of counterfeit or debased coins finding their way into our currencies. King Alyattes of Lydia (now Turkey) is credited with minting the first coins in 600 B.C. Since then, coin clipping, the practice of shaving the circumferences of precious metal coins while continuing to circulate them at face value, has been practiced by governments as a means of creating inflation. This method continued into the mid-20th century until we stopped making coins from soft, valuable metals such as silver and gold and began making them from cheap, hard metals like copper and copper-nickel alloy. Of course, governments now will just print more paper money, which decreases its purchasing value. No matter the economic system, money is one of those human inventions we have come to believe in without really questioning what it’s worth…until bitcoin, perhaps. A centralized government or bank does not administer this peer-to-peer cryptocurrency, and while some people believe bitcoin is nothing more than a Monopoly money fad, in 2017 the University of Cambridge presented researched estimates that most of the 2.9 to 5.8 million users with cryptocurrency wallets were using bitcoin. With the advent of cryptocurrency, it’s tempting to believe the literal problem of the bad penny may disappear. Still, cryptocurrency works like cash and is subject to robbery, just like those old precious ancient and medieval coins. Like the stock market, money is a mysterious and enchanting thing. Like religion, it is an institution that can live or die, depending on the effectiveness of the scaffolding of belief.