Krugerrands

Last Thursday I was helping a youngster prepare for his writing exam in English. He will be asked to write about a new invention--what it looks like, what it does and who might use it. He described a money tree and the seeds that it would spring from. He described how it would have money instead of leaves and that it would be full of Euros. For this youngster from a well/to/do family in Guadalajara Euros are a big deal.

I was reminded of myself as a youngster writing for one of my classes and speaking of Krugerrands, a coin that I had never handled as evidenced by my misspelling of the word. But at the time, even at that early age, for me, gold was a big deal.

I wonder with all of the movement in South Africa in recent years, if Krugerrands are still being produced and if the conditions of work for the miners are the same.

I remember writing notes on dollar bills in junior and senior high school. How did we know, even then that this fiat currency was not worth the paper it was printed on?