A short time ago, one David Sheppard, a well-informed and creative Englishman living in Auckland, wrote me a charming letter, in which he suggested that this move of mine to the Argentine capital might not so badly timed after all: “It’s a good time to have nothing to lose” as he wrote. Yes indeed. David had begun his chipper missive with a comment about the shortage of small change in Argentina. As I replied, sometimes the shortage of small change actually works in one’s favour, as in when the Subway ticket vendor can’t give out the correct change, and just waves one on through. It’s less convenient when trying to travel on a bus, when the vending machine only accepts coins and the minimum charge is 90 centavos. Apparently, the centavo literally hasn’t been worth the nickel it is engraved upon.

English pub in BA

Anyway, earlier this afternoon I repaired to the Gibraltar pub (pictured) in San Telmo for a few cleansing ales washed down with Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pud. The publican and I got chatting, and he told me that the latest news on small change was that the authorities here had discovered a warehouse of tin drums, all packed with coins, which somebody was hoping to sell at a profit. I’m a sucker for a good yarn, and I’ll believe just about anything about the Argentine economy, but can anyone confirm the veracity of this?