It seems most customers will give you a twenty dollar bill no matter what the amount of the fare. The first two fares I had today went short, and they did not let me down. They gave me twenties for 5-6 dollar fares. Yikes! That wipes out all of my change (cab drivers do not begin their day with thousands of dollars on us). I went on my third fare.
He is going from Albany and North B to Howard and Mississippi (I could only spell this because of the jingle I learned in 5th grade). I ask him if he has exact change. He says no, he was going to give me a twenty. So we stop at the convenience store at Howard and Morrison. He goes inside, gets some cigs, and comes back. We are set.
When I get him to his house, he hands me a twenty dollar bill! What! We just went to the store. He was a little drunk and said just keep it. I was not trying to rip him off.
When he got out of the cab I looked at it and it was a 1928 twenty gold backed bill. You don't see many of them anymore. I'm not sure how many people have seen the gold backed $20 bill. All I've ever seen were images and the signature was of A.W. Mellon. Is that who I think it is?
I know the driver Joe down on Britton Plazza, he buys old currency. I might a little more than face value.
I have always understood that in time of economic downturn, you will find old currency and coins in circulation. People are desperate.
Lovely dollars back when they were backed with real gold. Back in the 20s, that $20 would buy about 3/4 of an oz of gold or about $800 in today's money.
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