America Stranded in a Fantasy World

Chapter 7 "Wealth Inequality Is A Nightmare"

                                                         "Wealth Inequality Is A Nightmare"

Aaron rubbed the back of his neck, realizing he was starting to sweat. He was in a private room and had been waiting for a good twenty minutes for the King to arrive. He had already explored most of the room and found the red cloth couch to be by far the most comfortable thing to sit on. The paintings around the room only showed artist renditions of The White Palace.

"For a King, you're not exactly punctual." Aaron's annoyance was starting to grow with each passing minute, he could have spent more time at the feast talking with the nobles if it was going to be this long. He had found it most interesting that so far all the people he had met had been pure humans; guess there still was some inequality in this kingdom.

Finally, after nearing the thirty-minute mark, the door to the room opened and the King with two others entered, Aaron shot up from his laid-back position on the couch.

"Your Majesty, I once again thank you for allowing me the time to conduct this matter." Aaron bowed with the King simply raising his right hand.

"If it means I can feed my people then I will do whatever it takes." The king sat on a large crimson red leather chair with the two others standing next to him. "This is Viscount Liutswind and Viscount Ratold, my advisors. So tell me, what does the United States want in return for the food?"

With this, Aaron placed his briefcase on the coffee table in front of them and opened it. Taking out a stack of papers he sifted through them.

"Currently my government wants to secure rare earth minerals and more importantly, money. The only issue with this is how our currency works compared to yours." The King seemed a bit confused by Aaron's statement but got even more confused when he placed some bills and coins onto the table.

"Our currency is not backed by any precious material but is given value because we say it is. This is what we would call a fiat currency. I assume you know why we will have a problem." Aaron smiled with the King going into a pensive pose.

"Hmm, and how do you suggest we get around this issue?" Aaron responds by showing the king a graph of the price of gold.

"My government has suggested that they could use our market value of gold to determine the value of your coins. With that, we can do a direct translation to American dollars." Aaron suggested, with Liutswing stepping forward and pointing to one of the coins.

"May I?" Aaron nodded and Liutswing picked up the coin, examining it. "What material are your coins made from if it isn't gold or silver?" This caused Aaron to shift through his stack of papers.

"I believe it to be nickel, zinc and copper with our bills to be made out of either paper or plastic." Ratold also stepped forward to look at the odd currency.

"And what stops people from counterfeiting them if they're so cheap to make?" Ratold questioned.

In response, Aaron pulled out an ultraviolet light and shined it onto the bills with a single shining strip appearing and running across the bill.

"This is a security band that only shines when under black light. It is very difficult to forge without the proper equipment and know-how. As for the coins, their worth to the amount of work needed is simply not worth it."

The two viscounts were astounded by this level of security. To have a currency near impossible to counterfeit was not a possibility with the silver and gold coins they used, even the most complex seals can be mimicked. Defacing a coin's value had always been a tactic during extended wars.