* * *
Hayley read through the notes that Heather had sent with the plates. There were twenty-eight plates, but the base four of the plates were to be used on all certificates regardless of amount. They were for the black and red ink. Black for the contractual information on the back and outlining and emphasis on the front. The red to combine with the white of the background to make pink, as well as orange and purple when combined with yellow and blue. Together they formed surprisingly effective blend of down-time engraving techniques with up-time newspaper and comic strip coloration. Which produced almost photorealistic images of the Barbies, with backgrounds that were clearly drawn. It took Hayley and the printers three days of trying before they got the inking and placement just right. All the rejects were burned.
Hayley laid them out in order.
Millicent was on the one pfennig, They were going to be printing a lot of those. Heather’s letter to Hayley explained that she figured Millicent wouldn’t mind. Also, she didn’t want to put Trudi on the lowest denomination bill because people might interpret that to mean they thought less of Trudi than the up-timer Barbies.
A milli would buy a half pound loaf of day-old bread. Three of them would buy a meal at one of the stalls on Canal Street.
Heather put Trudi on the six pfennig bill. A trudi would buy a shampoo at the beauty shop.
Gabby got put on the one groschen. A gabbi would buy you a day at the water park, riding all the rides as often as you wanted. Two gabbies were a day’s pay for unskilled labor.
Vicky was on the twelve groschen. And now they were into real money. A week’s pay for a day laborer, a day’s pay for a master craftsman, a full day at the spa with massage, steam, pampering and primping. Or a new skirt, or a blouse, or a new pair of shoes. A month’s rent at Frau Krause’s boarding house, without meals.
Judy on the reichsthaler, because it was Judy’s sister who was marrying Karl. A judi would rent a room at the boarding house with meals, or just the month’s rent on a nice two bedroom in Race Track City.
And there, looking back at Hayley, was her own face on the one mark bill, because Heather said Hayley was the one who had been in Vienna the longest. Also because there would be fewer of the one mark bills in circulation. And a hayli could buy a cow, something that Brandon was sure to note.
Susan Logsden was on the face of the variable denomination bills. The ones that would have the amount filled in by hand at the time of issuance. In essence, a check written on the BarbieCo account. Those would be used when they bought a village or a building at one shot. Heather had chosen Susan for that because those bills had to be signed to be good. And most of the time it would be Susan who was doing the signing.
* * *
A few days later, Trudi was talking to the Liechtenstein upper servants about the Barbie Consortium when the issue of investments came up.
“Is it true,” Anna asked, “that regular people in the USE can buy into companies, even servants?”
“Anna!” Stephen remonstrated.
Trudi lifted an eyebrow and Stephen flushed, clearly remembering that Anna was no longer under his authority.
Anna shrank back for an instant, then relaxed, apparently remembering the same thing.
“As it happens,” Trudi said, “Anna is quite correct. Anyone can invest in publicly traded companies in the USE. Well, anyone who has the money. But it’s not always wise.”
“Why not?” Stephen asked. “I mean, from what we hear, people make money all the time. In fact, I heard that Prince Karl was heavily invested with the young ladies of the Barbie Consortium.”
“He is, and he’s made a very good profit,” Trudi agreed. “In fact, so have I.”
“Could I invest?” Anna asked. Clearly, Anna was looking ahead at a dowry and a full hope chest.
“I’ll have to ask, but I suspect so.”
“Is that wise?” asked Stephen. “I mean, in the USE they have the ear of the Secretary of the Treasury. That’s where the real money comes from, surely.”
“Not at all. Fletcher and Judy the Elder Wendell are not particularly wealthy by up-timer standards. Sarah’s money comes from the HSMC, ah, Higgins Sewing Machine Company and OPM which is a mutual fund. Its official name is Other People’s Money. Plus, she has other investments. Judy the Younger and the other members of the Barbie Consortium got rich through a series of astute investments.”
Trudi listened to the disbelieving snorts with no great surprise. She could hardly believe it herself. She hadn’t for the first few months after she got to Grantville High School. But it was true. The elder Wendells stayed scrupulously out of business. Nor did they help their daughters with insider information. Not that the Barbies didn’t get insider information. They knew every mover and shaker in Grantville and were past masters at getting information out of them.