History Literature / MakingMoney

* WorthlessCurrency: Moist's biggest challenge when introducing paper money is convincing people used to coins that it ''isn't'' worthless, even though Ankh-Morpork coinage already has a precious metal content lower than seawater. [[spoiler: After the bank's gold reserve turns out to be missing, he gets them to accept paper backed by the buried golems, but not fiat currency like he wanted.]]

* EitherWorldDominationOrSomethingAboutBananas: According to Professor Flead, in the language of ancient Um a single word can mean dozens of things depending on its context. This leads to the reveal that [[spoiler: a passage thought to refer to "four golden golems" actually means "four thousand golems".]

* PetHeir: Mr. Fusspot, done by Topsy out of good-humored spite towards the Lavishes.

** Vetinari uses the line "I couldn't possibly comment," which could be a reference to ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK''. (Which was also referenced in the Sky TV adaptation of ''[[Literature/{{Hogfather}} Hogfather]]'', where the voice actor playing Death was the character on that show who said that phrase, and said the phrase as Death.)

* MadMathematician: Malvolio Bent, who can see the answer to an equation just by looking at it and considers a mistake to be the worst of all sins one could commit, is noted by Moist to be a little unstable, especially in regards to his obsession with the gold standard. [[spoiler: After making a mistake himself, Bent [[SanitySlippage briefly goes completely over the edge]].]]

* MadMathematician: Mavolio Bent, who can see the answer to an equation just by looking at it and considers a mistake to be the worst of all sins one could commit, is noted by Moist to be a little unstable, especially in regards to his obsession with the gold standard. [[spoiler: After making a mistake himself, Bent [[SanitySlippage briefly goes completely over the edge]].]]

*** This reveal is teased throughout the book, usually by mentioning [[spoiler:how sweaty Cosmo is, or that his hand has changed colour again.]]

* SanitySlippage: [[spoiler:Cosmo Lavish]] begins the story as a somewhat sane, if not very efficient, ManipulativeBastard. Over the course of the story, his obsession with [[spoiler:Lord Vetinari]], coupled with [[spoiler:his rotting finger slowly poisoning him]], makes him increasingly more unhinged, to the point that he ends the story [[spoiler:in an asylum for people who think they are Vetinary]].

** Pucci Lavish doesn't exactly confess to her family's crimes, because as confession suggests ''guilt''. What Pucci does is more bragging.

* MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial: Lampshaded with Gladys.

* Mr. Slant hates it when a simple legal trial ends up getting him confused and flustered [[spoiler:especially in front of all those who are attending Moist's trial]]. He ends up giving such a DeathGlare. This makes plenty of people agree to not do anything.

** Mr. Slant hates it when a simple legal trial ends up getting him confused and flustered [[spoiler:especially in front of all those who are attending Moist's trial]]. He ends up giving such a DeathGlare. This makes plenty of people agree to not do anything.

** Mr. Slant hates it when a simple legal trial ends up getting him confused and flustered [[spoiler:especially in front of all those who are attending Moist's trial]]. He ends up giving such a DeathGlare that it makes plenty of people agree to not do anything.

** Mr. Slant hates it when a simple legal trial ends up getting him confused and flustered [[spoiler:especially in front of all those who are attending Moist's trial]]. He ends up giving such a DeathGlare, it makes plenty of people agree to not do anything.

* BookshelfOfAuthority: The 351-year-old zombie lawyer Mr. Slant cows his opposition with a milky Death Glare that makes them horribly aware that he himself wrote half of the large leather volumes they all keep in their offices to impress clients.

* MenAreGenericWomenAreSpecial: Moist has to remind himself that non-Gladys golems aren't really men any more than she's actually a woman.

The 36th book in the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' series, ''Making Money'' returns us to Moist von Lipwig, who has taken to breaking into his own building and stealing his own possessions to alleviate the boredom of living a more virtuous life. Since ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', he has become a major figure in the city and is tipped to become the next chairman of the Merchant's Guild. Vetinari, realizing that Moist would be much more useful if he redirected this bored energy towards a new project, offers him the chance to revamp the Royal Mint in much the same fashion as he revived the Post Office.

Preceded by ''Discworld/{{Thud}}'', followed by ''Discworld/UnseenAcademicals''. Preceded in the Moist series by ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', followed by ''Discworld/RaisingSteam''.

* BrickJoke: Right at the end, Moist takes a faceful of custard pie. Vetinari tastes a dollop and announces it is pineapple flavour. The joke goes at least back to the start of the previous book, ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' -- Vetinari and Moist have both just got past the pineapple. [[note]]Indeed, it could go ''right'' back to ''Discworld/TheLightFantastic'' -- where a byproduct of the magical accident that turns the Librarian into an orangutan is a disregarded puddle of pineapple dessert...[[/note]]

** Stanley's favorite Pin Emporium, mentioned in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', is briefly mentioned as becoming a Pin and Stamp Emporium. One of the subplots is Vetinari's use of [[spoiler:the Device]] from ''Discworld/{{Thud}}''. And Moist wonders why [[Discworld/FeetOfClay an axe is stuck in the table in the Rats Chamber...]]
** The jobs Moist gets at the start of this book are the exact same jobs that were offered to his EvilCounterpart at the end of ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', which he... refused.
** Mrs. Cake from ''Discworld/ReaperMan'' makes an appearance, as does her daughter.
** Owlswick Jenkins, startled by something Moist says, asks if there are people who commit suicide professionally. In ''Discworld/TheTruth'', William de Worde interviewed and was rescued by a former steeplejack who ''threatens'' to commit suicide professionally.

** One of the problems that the mint is facing is that it costs more money to make the physical money than its actual monetary value is worth. Moist invoked the need to avoid this same problem back in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' when he invented stamps, bringing up in passing that a penny-value stamp shouldn't actually cost the post office a penny to ''make''.

* KillMeNowOrForeverStayYourHand: A mild form: [[spoiler:Vetinari hands Moist a sword while questioning him, so he can confirm that Moist is more afraid when he's holding a sword than he is when Vetinari is.]] A subtle but brilliant ContinuityNod back to ''Discworld/GuardsGuards!'', in which the maddened Lupin Wonse screamed at Vetinari "You think you're in control just because I've got a sword and you haven't!"
** Could be considered as a ContinuityNod for Moist, to the scene in ''Discworld/GoingPostal'' where [[spoiler: Moist kills a banshee and pukes right after he does so, showing to the reader that he hates violence, even when it is done in order to save his own life]].

* RedHerring: We are repeatedly told that everyone suspects Mr. Bent of being a vampire. So often that the GenreSavvy reader knows he ''must'' be something else, and is perhaps thinking of other unusual Discworld races like Mr. Gryle [[spoiler:the banshee]] from ''Discworld/GoingPostal''. In the end, Mr. Bent turns out to be [[spoiler:a clown]].

* SeriesContinuityError: A slight one: students of the Department of Necro- ahem, [[InsistentTerminology Postmortem Communications]] call the black robes and skull rings "Babe Magnets". However, Discworld/LordsAndLadies makes it clear that magnetism is an obscure force in Discworld, almost wholly unknown to the Wizard community, and the word "magnetism" doesn't exist at all; the only ones with any sort of familiarity with it are Blacksmiths, who refer to it as "The Love of Iron". Although Ponder Stibbons seems curious about it at the end of that book, it seems unlikely to have been studied beyond the High Energy Magic department, certainly not to the point of being given a name and being used as an idiom by students of a different department.

** And guess what: in the next book, ''Discworld/RaisingSteam'', Moist acquires a set of railway stations as a necessary incidental detail. A possible ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' book mentioned by Pterry was ''Running Water'' [[note]] an idea which evolved into Raising Steam [[/note]], which could have dealt with piped water supplies and sewage works. Adora's clacks line is the local version of the telephone company. All of these reflect the public utilities on a Monopoly board.

** Vetinari uses the line "I couldn't possibly comment," which could be a reference to ''Series/HouseOfCardsUK''. (Which was also referenced in the Sky TV adaptation of ''[[Discworld/{{Hogfather}} Hogfather]]'', where the voice actor playing Death was the character on that show who said that phrase, and said the phrase as Death.)

* TheWindowOrTheStairs: Moist is given the same choice as he was at the start of ''Discworld/GoingPostal'', only to discover that the "bottomless pit" room is now perfectly normal. When he asks what happened to it, Vetinari claims to have no idea what he's talking about.