Sunday, August 30, 2009

Old Money

There are no electronic transactions, no scanners and no beeps here. Just the good old ka-chunk, ka-chunk sound when a button is pushed and the sweet sound of a bell when the cash drawer flies open to get me my change.
Good old money, when that tattered and torn, green and black note was backed up by gold. When that coin was actually made of gold, silver or nickel and it really meant something. It had a measurable value.
Nowadays it is all ones and zeroes zooming through the air, back and forth between computers at banks that tally the value of that particular string of ones or zeroes.
The string of ones and zeroes has no intrinsic value. It is valuable because we all agree it has value, certainly not because it has gold backing it up.
I just can't imagine how it all got so complicated and out of hand... can you?
Give me a good old chunk of gold any day.


Speaking of Gold!!!
CNN Money had this to say about Elko, Nevada
side note; if you read the CNN article, take a look at the third photo. In the bottom left corner of that photo you can see an old cash register.
Hmm! Now where have I seen that before...?


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5 comments:

Annie Bear said...

Neat picture!!

It's also not just ones and fives, but credit cards. Yes, this is a relic from the good ole days!

Sylvia said...

Wow! Where did you find such a treasure?

Paulo Camacho said...

Thanks to follow me.
You still continue to have a very nice and rich blog.
Regards,
Paulo Camacho
funchaldailyphoto.blogsport.com

Hilda said...

I actually remember old, manual cash registers, but none of them were as ornate and gorgeous as this!

Fascinating story about Elko. That open pit gold mine is huge! So, are you glad now that you had to relocate?

Eric said...

I remember the old cash registers like this as well. Well not as nice as this one of course. The old shop near my grand-mother's home in Virginia had an old manual register like this until it closed in the early 1980's.
This particular one is part of a museum, the NorthEastern Nevada Museum to be precise.
It is behind the bar from an early saloon in the Elko area.

http://www.museumelko.org