The course shows the making of the main money and banking theories, starting from Hume's criticism to Mercantilism, through British debates in the first half of XIX century, neoclassical theories of Marshall, Wicksell, Fisher and ending on the threshold of Keynesian revolution. Some major topics of the course: the theoretical debate on gold standard; the outcropping of central banks and the analysis of the difference between money and credit (especially focusing on Thornton and Bagehot contributions); the neutrality of money and its link with business cycle. The course aims to offer a concise and clear description of the development of money and banking theories and in the meantime a critical vision of this process and of its connection with the changes in the international economic system.