Chapter 15: 015 Money Blinds

The stern man came back with five other people. It was a mix of men and women and they all had similar equipment. Jenny and I had to move to the side of the room with the man handling my case as the examiners entered, then one of them let out an excited squeal. To my surprise, it was one of the men.

“That is not what I think it is!” The man in question said in a high pitched and excited voice. He bounced a little on the balls of his feet and looked from the stern man to the gold.

“Grab a pile and get to work.” The stern man said.

“IEE!” The man said and practically pushed the others out of the way, grabbed one of the round stacks, and pulled it to the side of the table. He sat down in my vacated chair and barely managed to keep the coins from falling over in his excitement.

“I told you not to bring him.” A woman said and sat down in Jenny's chair. “He's too excitable when he sees new coins.”

“He's the best at coin recognition.” The stern man said and sat down behind the desk. He pulled over one of the stacks and began examining them. The guards brought in more chairs for everyone and the examiners all sat around the desk and began working.

“How long does something like this take?” I whispered to the man handling my case.

“I've never had someone make three million in solid gold appear out of nowhere, so I have no idea.” Mr. Graham said. “Were you planning to do this the whole time?”

“Not at all.” I said. “I was only going to do the one stack of ten coins to impress you, then realized it wasn't enough for you to take seriously.”

“So you did the round stack.” Mr. Graham said.

I nodded. “When you brought in the expert, I knew he wanted to see if they were all gold and not just replicas or fool's gold, so...”

“...you made sure he had a large enough of a sample size.” Mr. Graham nodded. “I see.”

“I think you do.” I said and he looked at me. “You remembered what I said about the possibility of needing to use illegal means.”

“I did, and that is not something my government can condone or approve of.” Mr. Graham said. “Bringing one of these coins to a pawn shop to pawn or sell, would be a strain on the economy.”

“What? Really?” I asked and he nodded. “Can you tell me why?”

“Our currency used to be held to the gold standard. We had gold worth a set amount of money, printed that much money to represent it, and that became the basis for our economy. There was never any currency above and beyond what we could physically represent with gold.”

“Used to be.” I said, catching the key phrase.

“Now? The dollar bill is actually based on trust. People trust that a little piece of paper... well, a fibrous representation of paper... is actually worth what's printed on it. They exchange goods and services for that trust, knowing that when presented, that little piece of paper is worth what they believe it is worth.”

“Oh, wow.” Jenny whispered.

“It gets better.” Mr. Graham said. “People used to buy gold and keep it stashed away. Now they buy dollar bills and stash them.”

“But... then that means...”

“Gold prices fluctuate quite a lot, depending on the demand. It can rise or fall by hundreds of dollars in a given month. How much does the dollar fluctuate?” Mr. Graham asked.

“It doesn't.” Jenny said.

“Exactly. A dollar is worth a dollar. If we still had a gold standard, then a dollar could be worth anywhere from a dime to ten dollars... on average... and it would change every day.”

“That means I might need to pay more to get the coin back from a pawn shop, assuming I didn't sell it outright.”

“They would never give anywhere near the actual value.” Mr. Graham said. “They are in the business to make money. If you sold it, they would turn it over into ready cash instantly.”

“Because a dollar is always worth a dollar and they could lose money if they kept it.” I said.

Mr. Graham nodded. “I can't even imagine the mess you would have caused if you had tried to smelt it into gold bars and tried to sell it.”

Jenny chuckled and the man looked at her. “Our mother warned him to not commit any crimes.”

“Your mother is a smart woman.” Mr. Graham said and Jenny nodded.

“I can't tell where these are from.” One of the women said. “What was the writing on it again?”

I walked over and pointed to each section. “One Crown. King Lasham's Kingdom. First Minting. Year 926.”

“You can read this?” The woman asked, shocked.

“I can read and write it.” I said and took a piece of paper from the notepad on the desk, then used a pen to write out the same thing with the English translation underneath. I even added arrows to indicate what words were what. Everyone at the table had stopped what they were doing and stared at me and the paper.

“Perhaps a word with the cryptology department might be in order.” Mr. Graham said.

“It's one guy in a cubicle.” The woman who asked about the translation said. “You would have to go to the capital to find an actual department.”

“He would still like to see it.” One of the others said and she shrugged.

It took them half an hour to check all of the coins. They even took random scrapings from several coins in different spots to test that it was actually gold. To my satisfaction, they were all in agreement that the gold was actually real and the coins, wherever they were from, were authentic. They were also minted from the same mold, which made them identical.

“Thank you.” Mr. Graham said and I stepped forward to gather them up.

“I'm sorry. I can't let you leave the building with these coins.” The stern man said as he stood and stopped me from touching the stacks of coins. “This much gold being let out onto the streets would destroy the local economy.”

I chuckled. “There's no way anyone would accept a gold coin as currency or give me what they are actually worth.”

“That's neither here nor there.” The stern man said. “You have over three million dollars in actual gold. If word of it gets out that there is gold in the country that's not stored in the federal reserve...”

“I believe he understands the gravity of the situation.” Mr. Graham said. “We can have him sign documents that state he can't use them as currency or sell them.”

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The stern man shook his head. “Even that is fallible. I can't in good conscience...”

“What if I stored my gold in the federal reserve?” I asked and Jenny caught her breath.

“A private citizen can't put gold in...”

“At the moment, I'm legally dead.” I said and the new people in the room gasped.

The man who squealed in delight at the gold coins before, squealed in fright this time.

“What can we do with that knowledge?” I asked.

The stern man exchanged looks with Mr. Graham and had to reluctantly nod.

“I believe that... as a person that does not currently have the inalienable rights provided to all citizens of this great country of ours... it would be advisable for someone of your status to invest in the country you want to become a member of.”

“Is three million in gold enough of an investment?” I asked and waved at the desk that was practically covered in gold coins that had been spread out. “That is, I'd like to get some monetary benefits if I invest a significant amount of gold to add to the treasury.”

“We will still need time to trace the currency back to a possible source, if it exists.” The stern man said.

“I'm going to be in legal limbo for a couple of weeks at least.” I said and glanced at Mr. Graham, who nodded. “Until I can have my status restored, you can investigate all you want. However, I assume whatever investment I make needs to be done within that time frame.”

“That would be wise.” The stern man said and looked at the table. “I will need to arrange a secure transportation method for this treasure trove of new gold.”

“As long as it's all there.” I said and the excitable man's face flushed red. “One thousand and one coins should be there, if you include the one I submitted for more extensive testing.” I looked at my sister. “What was gold selling for this morning?”

“Fifteen hundred and fifty three dollars and twenty cents.” Jenny responded without looking it up.

I chuckled. “I'll knock off the twenty cents, so that's... three point one million dollars.”

“It's also about a hundred and thirty pounds.” The excitable man said. “Where did you get it?”

“I earned every single one.” I said.

The man gave me a look that said he wanted to know exactly how I had earned it. I had a flash of Divine Sight and saw him on his knees with a gold coin balanced on his forehead with his mouth wide open and ready for me, because he wanted to earn the coin.

I physically slapped myself on both cheeks and shook my head to get rid of the vision, because that was not the kind of earning I meant. “I'll donate one to each member of your department for doing an outstanding job... and for not lying and claiming that they were fake, just so you could keep them without compensating me.”

“We would never...” The woman started to say, then she understood what I meant. “Oh. Yes, I suppose that would have been a smart way to confiscate them.”

I took out a gold coin and gave it to her first, then handed one to each of the other four examiners. “You earned this.” I said as I gave the last one to the excitable man. His eyes flicked from my face to my crotch and back again. I shook my head slightly and he shrugged slightly in return. Whew. I thought in relief and looked at the stern man. “If you have to damage the first one too much to check the metal content, I should give you another one.” I took out another and gave it to him.

“This could be seen as a blatant bribe.” The stern man said.

“Bribing you gets me nothing.” I said and he gave me an odd look. “I didn't ask for anything, did I?”

The stern man lost the look and nodded.

“Assuming everything is okay so far, where can I get a loan against my initial investment?” I asked.

“Initial?” Mr. Graham and the stern man asked at the same time.

“You don't think this is all the gold I have, do you?” I waved at the table. “You said you wanted me to show you some of what I could do.”

“For god's sake, Damon! Shut up!” Jenny exclaimed and I winced. “Mr. Graham, if you would be so kind as to recommend a federal bank where three million in gold can be levied against a sizable loan.”

Mr. Graham looked from my sister to me. “I do have some connections with the local branch of the federal bank.”

“Would storing the gold there be agreeable until proper transportation can be acquired?” Jenny asked.

“How much more of an investment can you provide?” The stern man asked.

Jenny glared at me for opening my big mouth and I sighed.

“Triple it.” I said in a defeated tone.

“Fuuuuck.” Jenny said and rubbed her temples. “You are a BIG... STUPID... IDIOT!”

“I'm sorry.” I said and slumped my shoulders.

Everyone in the room felt bad about it, since I had just given up over nine point three million dollars, even the stern man and Mr. Graham looked dejected.

“I'll have these packed up and sent over with you.” The stern man said and waved to the guards. “You are to make sure he deposits the gold into the bank properly.”

“Yes, sir.” Both guards said, then Jenny and I watched as a thousand gold coins were counted and bagged up. I didn't offer to store them, either. I knew that they wouldn't like 'their' gold disappearing again. The guards took the gold and escorted Jenny and myself out of the building and to the federal bank that was only a couple of streets over. I was watched carefully and the coins were counted out as I deposited two thousand of them into a large metal container. They were counted, as were the thousand the guards had brought, then the container was sealed up and stored in the vault.

A surprisingly pretty blonde woman in a business suit led us from the vault and across the bank to her office. “I believe you would like to open an account in our illustrious bank.” She said to Jenny and completely ignored me.

“I believe that you are quite correct.” Jenny said, her eyes gleaming and her voice full of satisfaction.

I sat there and watched as Jenny was the one that received a five hundred thousand dollar, non-repayable loan, that was guaranteed by the federal government... as long as it was used to benefit the country.

“Don't worry. The money is definitely going to benefit the country.” Jenny said with a wicked grin.

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