The Birth of Currency (2)
"Stop lying! What kind of nonsensical talk is that?"
"I'm telling the truth!"
The children gathered near the fence to catch a squirrel doubted the words of Andrew.
"If you worked at the bank, you should have brought back money, not some kind of paper. I can't understand this."
"Was it really just paper? Not dalant?"
"Yeah, they told me it's some kind of promissory note? They said it could become money in the future."
"Promissory note? What's that?"
"I've never heard of it either."
"Andrew, did your brother Rockefeller get scammed at the bank?"
To them, only gold and silver coins were real money. The mysterious promissory note Rockefeller brought back as his first salary from the bank was not considered money.
"It really seems like he was scammed."
"Me too."
"You think so too?"
"Yeah."
Then Andrew's face lit up with confidence.
"Don't worry, it's not a scam. If you take it to the bank, they'll exchange it for gold coins right away."
"Really?"
"Is that really true?"
"Yes."
"Wow, that's amazing."
"That's not a lie, is it?"
Andrew replied with a slight laugh.
"My brother works at the bank, so of course it's real. Why else would my brother bring such paper money from the bank?"
"Wow, that's fascinating. So, if you take it to the bank, they'll exchange it for dalants? That's as good as having money then?"
"Right. If the bank exchanges it for dalants, it's money."
Andrew chimed in as if he had been waiting for that remark.
"Of course, it's money! Why else would I call it money? Just wait and see. My brother said that soon people will start using this paper as if it were money. Whether that’s true or not, we'll find out soon enough."
Andrew explained about the new form of money to his peers.
Rockefeller, who had stopped by the market for some necessities, was also making the same effort as Andrew.
However, the difference with Andrew was that Rockefeller was directly interacting with people, trying to use the Gold promissory notes he had as if they were actual money.
“What is this?”
At the tailor's shop, Rockefeller had paid with something made of paper.
“Ah, this?”
His reaction was utterly expected, so Rockefeller, without changing his expression, began to explain about the new promissory note he had handed over.
“This is what I brought from the bank in lieu of my salary. You said earlier that you would accept the bank's promissory notes in place of dalant, didn’t you?”
The tailor's shop, being a place where relatively large sums of money were exchanged compared to other stores, also accepted the bank's promissory notes as if they were money, in addition to dalant transactions.
“That is true, but…”
There was a reason for his less than pleased expression.
The promissory note Rockefeller had presented was not the usual one they saw, but a completely new one.
“We do accept promissory notes at our store, but… this is the first time I’ve ever seen this kind of promissory note.”
Hearing that, Rockefeller, as if he had been waiting for the question, began to explain about the 1 Gold promissory note.
After hearing his explanation, the tailor asked back with a look of feigned surprise.
"Is the lord guaranteeing this?"
The existing IOU of 1 was directly guaranteed by the bank.
But this time, the IOU of 1 Gold handed over by Rockefeller was not guaranteed by the bank but directly by the lord.
"Yes, precisely, it's an IOU issued against the one that the lord gave to our store as collateral. So, it's somewhat correct to say that the lord is guaranteeing it."
"That's what I'm saying."
The tailor, staring intensely at the new IOU, had a look of deep curiosity on his face.
'The lord is guaranteeing it? Not just some bank trader, but the lord himself?'
An IOU directly guaranteed by a lord instead of a mere bank trader was unheard of in the world!
The tailor still had his doubts.
"It can't be a lie, can it?"
"A lie? Don’t you know that I work at the bank?"
The tailor was also one of the prominent clients who visited the Carter bank, and he was well aware that Rockefeller worked there.
"No, I know you work there. It's just that I've never seen anything like this before."
"This has just been released recently."
A completely new form of promissory note.
The tailor, after a moment of contemplation, decided to first verify it.
Like the previous promissory notes, if it could be exchanged for dalant at the bank without any issues, there was no reason not to accept it.
"First, I need to go to your store and check it out myself before accepting it. I can't just take your word for it."
"That's fine. Do you want to come with me to the store then?"
The tailor went with Rockefeller to the Carter Bank to exchange the 1 Gold promissory note given by Rockefeller into dalant.
Of course, there were no problems.
The tailor, seeing the dalant in front of him, was astonished.
'Was this real? Then, as this child said, is this a newly issued promissory note?'
Then, Carter, the owner of the bank, casually asked the tailor.
"Did you come to verify this yourself?"
"Yes, a kid working here brought up something strange, so I came to check it myself."
"It's a new issue. There's no problem, so you can just go back."
"It's quite fascinating. A promissory note personally guaranteed by the lord."
"No, my friend, it's actually secured by a promissory note written by the lord himself. Take a look at it when you have time; it's properly documented there."
"Why bother checking something like this? It's all settled once it's exchanged for dalants."
Observing his reaction, Carter casually asked.
"Now that you're here, would you like to exchange it for dalants?"
