Alex and Hans were both
old enough to recall a time prior to the introduction of Euro when
the Dutch Guilder had been the reigning currency of the Netherlands.
Both men harboured deep nostalgic feelings for this bygone period in
their native country's economic history.
Hans reminisced fondly
over a childhood where you could toss a One Guilder coin into the
air. If it landed heads-side up it would transform into a dragon. If
it landed tails-side up then it would become a unicorn. He attempted
to picture in his mind the charred architecture of Amsterdam in his
youth. The fire-scorched buildings, the feverish whinnying and the
sharp clip-clop of hooves that sparked rainbows from the flat
cobbles.
Alex recalled how the Two
and a Half Guilder coin had a rosewater caramel centre and how, in
1986, the government had introduced a sugar-free variant for
diabetics.
There was only one Five
Guilder coin in existence, represented by the planet Saturn. Alex had
received it once as part of his change after purchasing a copy of
Smallish Males magazine from a news-stand.
Both men agreed that, while
Euro notes conferred upon their owners a variety of powers that in
the right amount and configurations could elevate a man above his
peers, the single European currency was nowhere near as good nor as egalitarian
as Guilders had been.
