Rural Routes, Blog Version

Earlier this summer, K and I attended a currency and collectibles auction sale for a business which had gone bankrupt.

I could almost imagine myself stepping into a small cramped store, motes of dust floating in the light from the window. Glass cases full of silver coins and brass medallions, sliding drawers lined with money.

Surely that auction was the only place where you could buy a loonie for a toonie. A half price sale.

The foreign currency which K invested in that day has given us hours of entertainment as we sorted through the envelopes. Afghanistan, Bahamas, Cambodia, Mexico, Nepal, Thailand and Zaire. And other countries alphabetically between.

I hadn’t thought of currency as art, but some of these banknotes are brilliantly coloured and pleasing to the eye. What’s more, they are history. Want to know how many countries are part of the British Commonwealth? Take a look at all the notes featuring Queen Elizabeth. That will give you a clue.

In a way that was almost as satisfying as leafing through a travel brochure, the pictures allowed us to dream of lands faraway and undiscovered.

Perhaps that is what the shop’s unlucky owner did. Dream of travel and riches. I doubt his dreams included bankruptcy.

It could be a cautionary tale. You can go broke selling money.