Becoming an Assistant at the Bank (Part 2)
"You're not late."
Carter glanced at the pocket watch he held in his hand, then greeted Rockefeller who arrived right on time.
"Good morning, Uncle Carter."
"Yes, it is a good morning."
Before starting the day's work, Carter sat face to face with Rockefeller.
On the old-fashioned wooden table situated between them, a balance scale was placed.
"You said this is your first time doing this kind of work, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, before we start, I need to explain a few things to you."
Knowing that he couldn't just entrust the job to a boy who knew nothing, Carter wanted to explain his work.
"Do you know what a goldsmith does?"
"Roughly."
"Well, you probably have a rough idea. First off, my work involves three main things."
Cough!
With a short cough and stroking his beard, Carter continued speaking.
"The biggest part of the job is crafting gold coins. Ordinary gold comes in various shapes, which makes it incredibly inconvenient to trade. There's no standard."
“So, they make things like gold coins. They're easy to carry and make transactions with.”
“You know well. But making gold coins isn't something just anyone can do.”
Rockefeller did not deny his words.
Just as he said, goldsmithing was not something just anyone could do.
“To do this job, you first need a special permit issued by the imperial court. And you need specialized skills to craft the gold coins. It takes a considerable amount of time to learn this. So, I don't plan to ask you to do this work. Instead, I have another job in mind for you.”
“Yes.”
“First, take a look at this. This is a gold coin I made yesterday.”
Carter took out a gold coin engraved with the portrait of the first Emperor of the Empire from his pocket and showed it to Rockefeller.
“This is the empire's gold coin, called a dalant. You're a commoner, so you might have seen it at least once, but with one of these, you can easily eat and sleep in a foreign land for at least a month.”
Generally, a day's wage for a rural laborer was one silver coin, and 32 of these silver coins could be exchanged for one gold coin.
"I know too. A country laborer's daily wage is one shilling, right? I heard it takes a whole month to collect enough to exchange for a single gold coin."
"Technically, it's 32 shillings for one dalant, but roughly calculating, as you said, a country laborer needs to work an entire month to get one gold coin."
"Yes."
Carter then took out a silver coin to show Rockefeller.
"This is the shilling you were talking about. It's also called a silver coin. Here, the silver coin can be made by any craftsman appointed by the lord, but this gold dalant can only be made by us, who have the imperial permission."
Rockefeller already knew this story.
"I've heard that story too."
"In fact, with these silver coins, there's no set standard, so their size and shape all differ. Lords decide on their own whim. That's why a silver coin that can be used in one place might be completely useless in another territory."
"Is it always like that?"
"Not always. Most follow the rule of 32 shillings for one dalant, but there are places that don't adhere to this rule depending on the situation."
“Then, using silver coins in other territories might cause problems?”
“That's right. That's why these gold coins, whose value remains the same anywhere in the empire, are very important.”
“So, are all transactions within the empire conducted in gold coins?”
“Yes. While silver coins vary, gold coins do not.”
In modern terms, the empire's gold coins were like the dollar as a key currency, and the silver coins were akin to each country's own currency.
“I have a question.”
“Ask away.”
“To trade within the empire, you need gold coins, right? What about transactions outside the empire? Are they also conducted in empire gold coins?”
Carter stroked his beard thoughtfully before responding to the question.
“It's a bit complicated. While it's not impossible to trade in empire gold coins, there's a preference for Goblin gold coins, the ducats.”
Rockefeller was also aware that forces outside the empire preferred Goblin gold coins over empire gold coins.
Certainly, there was one thing he was curious about.
'Why do they prefer gold coins made by goblins?'
"What's the reason for that?"
Explaining the reason would require delving into a more complex story.
So, taking a deep breath, Carter began to continue his explanation.
"In this world, there are precisely three types of gold coins. The 'dalant' made by the empire, the 'sovereign' made by dwarves, and the 'ducat' made by goblins. If it's hard to remember their names, you can simply call them imperial gold coins, dwarven gold coins, and goblin gold coins."
"Is there any difference between these gold coins? As far as I know, there isn't."
