How it works
In the made-up village of Goldmere, Tomas kept ten gold bars in a vault and gave out paper notes, each one a promise worth one bar.
Notes were light to carry, and a seal on each showed it was real. Anyone could swap a note for a bar, so people trusted them.
Tomas's rule was one note for each bar. When the village printed two more notes, there were 12 notes for 10 bars, and when everyone rushed to swap, the vault ran out.
Many real countries tied their money to gold in the 1800s. Today no country promises gold for its money.