"The economic structure of the system is about to be shot to pieces in a box. Nothing will be worth anything in money. A diamond as big as your fist will be just so much carbon crystal. I want to butter us up, Linna, before the crash. That's the way to do it."
"What is this crash coming from?"
"Don Channing and Walt Franks have just developed a gadget that will transmit articles over any distance. That shoots Interplanet. The articles—or the signal-impulses from them—can be recorded, and the recording can be used to duplicate, exactly, the same thing as many times as you want it."
"You idiot," scorned Linna, "why not just get one and duplicate your present money?"
"Merely because an operator as large as myself cannot palm off two hundred one thousand dollar bills with the serial number AG334557990HHL-6. Counterfeiting will become a simple art soon enough, Linna, but until it is accepted, I'm not going to break any laws. I can't if I'm going to shove ahead."
"But my jewels."
"So much junk."
"But everything I have is tied up in jewelry."
"Still so much junk."
"Then we're bankrupt?"