Analog Science Fiction and Fact 120110 by Dell Magazines

Author:Dell Magazines
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Dell Magazines
Published: 2010-12-01T08:00:00+00:00

Science Fact

Tips for the Budget Time-Traveler

Shane Tourtellotte

Time travel is a favorite topic for science fiction, but one that, by its nature, resists the kind of rigorous factual analysis its readers and writers would put into orbital dynamics or genetic Seldom...

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Science Fact

Tips for the Budget Time-Traveler

Shane Tourtellotte

Chart 1: Gold/silver value ratio, 1845–2008 (London quotes)

Time travel is a favorite topic for science fiction, but one that, by its nature, resists the kind of rigorous factual analysis its readers and writers would put into orbital dynamics or genetic recombination. Still, there are practical issues one must tackle if visiting another era. Language is one, a topic covered admirably in L. Sprague de Camp’s “Language for Time Travelers.” Another is the matter of money.

Seldom in SF do we see a time-traveler arrive in a past society with the financial resources needed to support himself for any length of time. Many stories ignore the matter altogether; others have the traveler fall in with some benefactor; in others the time travel was unplanned and precipitous. A protagonist who takes intelligent steps to fund his sojourn is uncommon. For a reading audience that likes rigorous storytelling, this cannot really satisfy.

It would be simple and convenient to posit a filthy rich time-traveler who can overcome this problem by brute force. Too simple, too convenient. Suppose, instead, that the expenses of building your time machine have tapped you out, that you have a relative pittance left to back your trip to Agincourt or Marathon or the court of Cleopatra. How can you maximize your limited budget to support your adventure in the past? This essay will provide some answers.

To illustrate various principles, I will use the specific example of traveling to the early Roman Empire. The Augustan Era, along with being a popular period likely to draw a time-traveler’s interest, provides excellent examples on several points. The methodology presented should help you cope with any other past period you choose to visit.

So, our first question arises: how to get the money you’ll need in the past?

Heavy Metal

Ideally, you would have a stash of the currency used in the period you’ll be visiting. Realistically, your coin collection probably isn’t that extensive, and buying up genuine ancient coins would be overly expensive due to scarcity and other factors. You might contemplate counterfeiting period currency, but besides still being an expensive venture, it would be highly risky both in the present and the past.

Go back more than a few centuries, though, and your options widen. People will accept more than standardized, state-produced currency. Precious metals, gold and silver, will pass well, as long as the recipient can be reasonably sure of weight and purity. Taking back bulk gold and silver will be much more efficient than buying period gold or silver coinage with the same money. If need be, you can purchase period currency with your metals in the past, at a much more lenient premium than at a coin dealer or an online auction today.

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