Excerpt from Golden Hill by Francis Spufford, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"Done," echoed Lovell. "Jem, note and date the document, will you? And add a memorandum of this agreement; and make another note that we're to write to Banyard's on our own account, by the first vessel, asking explanations. And then let's have it in the strongbox, to show in evidence, as I suspect, for the assizes. Now, sir, I believe I'll bid you—" Lovell checked himself, for Smith was feeling through the pockets of his coat. "Was there something else?" he asked heavily.

"Yes," said Smith, bringing forth a purse. "I'm told I should break my guineas to smaller change. Could you furnish me the value of these in pieces convenient for the city?"

Lovell looked at the four golden heads of the King glittering in Smith's palm.

"Are they brass?" said one of the prentices, grinning.

"No, they're not brass," said Lovell. "Use your eyes, and not your mouth. Why ever—?" he said to Smith. "Never mind. Never mind. Yes, I believe we can oblige you. Jem, get out the pennyweights, and check these."

"Full weight," the clerk reported.

"Thought so," said Lovell. "I am learning your humours, Mr. Smith. Well, now, let's see. We don't get much London gold, the flow being, as you might say, all the other way; it's moidores, and half-joes, mostly, when the yellow lady shows her face. So I believe I could offer you a hundred and ighty per centum on face, in New-York money. Which, for four guineas, would come to—"

"One hundred and fifty one shillings, twopence-halfpenny."

"You're a calculator, are you? A sharp reckoner. Now I'm afraid you can have only a little of it in coin; the reason being, as I said when first we began, that little coin is current at the present." Lovell opened a box with a key from his fob chain and dredged up silver—worn silver, silver knocked and clatter'd in the battles of circulation—which he built into a little stack in front of Smith. "A Mexica dollar, which we pass at eight-and-fourpence. A piece of four, half that. A couple of Portugee cruzeiros, three shillings New-York. A quarter-guilder. Two kreutzers, Lemberg. One kreutzer, Danish. Five sous. And a Moresco piece we can't read, but it weighs at fourteen pennyweight, sterling, so we'll call it two-and-six, New-York. Twenty-one and fourpence, total. Leaving a hundred and twenty-nine, tenpence-halfpenny to find in paper."

Lovell accordingly began to count out a pile of creased and folded slips next to the silver, some printed black and some printed red and some brown, like the despoiled pages of a prayerbook, only of varying shapes and sizes; some limp and torn; some leathery with grease; some marked only with dirty letterpress and others bearing coats-of-arms, whales spouting, shooting stars, feathers, leaves, savages; all of which he laid down with the rapidity of a card-dealer, licking his fingers for the better passage of it all.

"Wait a minute," said Mr. Smith. "What's this?"

"You don't know our money, sir?" said the clerk. "They didn't tell you we use notes, specie being so scarce, this side?"

"No," said Smith.

The pile grew.

"Fourpence Connecticut, eightpence Rhode Island," murmured Lovell. "Two shilling Rhode Island, eighteenpence Jersey, one shilling Jersey, eighteenpence Philadelphia, one shilling Maryland..." He had reached the bottom of the box. "Excuse me, Mr. Smith; for the rest we're going to have to step upstairs to my bureau. We don't commonly have the call for so much at once. Jem, you can commence to close up; Isaiah, stop gawping, start sweeping. If you'd like to follow me, then. —Bring your winnings, by all means; we wouldn't want you to lose count."

"I see you mean to tease me back," said Mr. Smith, now possessed of a double handful of rustling, doubtful currency.

Excerpted from Golden Hill by Francis Spufford. Copyright © 2017 by Francis Spufford. Excerpted by permission of Scribner. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.