The commoner blinked, seeming not to understand Eric Bennett's meaning for a moment. Eric Bennett rephrased, “How should I address you?”

“Howard Grant.” The commoner finally understood. Seeing Eric Bennett’s friendly demeanor, a glimmer of hope rose in his heart. When Eric Bennett reached out his hand, he immediately placed the cloth bag in Eric Bennett’s palm. “Sir, please take a look for me, I beg you.”

Eric Bennett sized up Howard Grant. “I’m not a ‘sir.’ My name is Eric Bennett.”

“Master Dan.” Howard Grant nodded and bowed.

What kind of look is that? Do I look like a young master dressed like this?

Seeing George Miller growing impatient, Eric Bennett stopped wasting words, opened the cloth bag for a look, frowned, then turned the bag upside down, dumping all its contents onto the ground.

With a series of clinks, a dozen or so copper coins fell to the ground. But these coins weren’t the usual round coins with square holes; instead, they were spade-shaped copper coins with some inscriptions on them.

Eric Bennett was slightly shocked.

He could tell at a glance the historical era of these coins. If they were in modern times, they’d be highly valuable collectibles. But noticing the impatient expressions of George Miller and Mr. Turner, Eric Bennett quickly realized the real issue.

“These are Ten Bu copper coins circulated during the Tianfeng era,” Eric Bennett said offhandedly.

George Miller was taken aback. He’d been signaled by Mr. Turner to let Eric Bennett check the origin of the goods, and felt a bit annoyed, thinking this servant had gotten arrogant just by following the young lady around—did he really think he was that capable? But he hadn’t expected Eric Bennett to immediately identify the coins’ origin, which left him quite surprised.

At the end of the Western Han, Wang Mang took power and, to save the court from crisis, carried out four currency reforms, minting Ten Bu copper coins, with denominations like “Small Bu One Hundred,” “Large Bu Yellow Thousand,” and so on—ten types in total.

George Miller had never seen this type of currency before, but he recognized the seal script on them. Recalling what Mr. Turner had taught him, he finally identified the coins’ origin and felt a bit proud—never expecting Eric Bennett to blurt it out so effortlessly.

Picking up the coins one by one and putting them back in the bag, Eric Bennett sighed lightly. “Howard Grant, these things…”

Howard Grant looked nervously at Eric Bennett, as if he was about to cry.

Seeing his expression, Eric Bennett suddenly didn’t want to tell Howard Grant the harsh truth—that these things were worthless!

In his own era, these coins would be highly collectible, but in the current Three Kingdoms period, they were just inflated currency from the previous dynasty. To put it simply, in modern terms, these coins were like the currency issued by the Nationalists during the civil war—an entire sack wouldn’t buy a few pounds of grain. After the founding of the new country, even using them as toilet paper would be inconvenient, and they couldn’t circulate. Even collecting them could get your head chopped off.

The only value these coins had now was as copper to be melted down, but even then, you’d have to pay for the labor. Besides, minting coins was always the government’s business—private minting was counterfeiting, punishable by death in any era. A pawnshop wouldn’t take these at all.

“These things aren’t worth anything,” George Miller finally cut in.

Mr. Turner nodded as well. With his experience, he knew these coins weren’t valuable and was ready to end the conversation.

Howard Grant’s body trembled slightly. In a low voice, he said, “Master Dan, can’t you at least name a price?” He could tell that Mr. Turner and George Miller were shrewd businessmen, and only Eric Bennett’s gaze held a hint of warmth.

Eric Bennett thought, I’m just a servant, not the shopkeeper—what’s the point of me naming a price? But seeing Howard Grant’s anxious look, Eric Bennett sighed, about to say he’d buy them himself—he still had some wages left this month.

Before he could speak, Eric Bennett suddenly paused, picking up a “Large Bu Yellow Thousand” coin, his expression changing slightly.

The Large Bu Yellow Thousand was the highest denomination among the Ten Bu coins, about twice the size of the Small Bu One Hundred.

Epigraphy and archaeology only became established disciplines in the Song dynasty, so in this era, counterfeits were nothing like those of modern times. Thus, Eric Bennett could basically identify the era of the coins at a glance, without much effort to verify authenticity. But as he was putting the spade coins away, he suddenly noticed a faint reddish mark on the seal script for “Bu.”

If you didn’t look closely, you’d never notice it.

That color was all too familiar.

When Eric Bennett saw that hint of red, he felt a flicker of excitement. Before putting the spade coin back in the bag, he quickly brought it to his nose and sniffed, feeling even more certain.

Standing up slowly, Eric Bennett smiled. “Howard Grant, where do you live?”

“I’m in the south of the city,” Howard Grant replied, puzzled.

Eric Bennett’s mind raced. He said calmly, “I’ll give you a string of coins for these copper coins, Howard Grant. Will you sell?”

What?!

Everyone’s eyes widened in shock!

Chapter 10: Casting a Long Line

Grace Clark sighed inwardly. She was a woman with her own opinions. No matter what her third uncle said, she was used to quietly observing a person’s abilities and character.

Eric Bennett was no ordinary servant. She had made that judgment the moment she first saw him, and today’s journey had only confirmed it.

This man was intelligent and clever. Even when facing Henry Walker or Emma Clark, he never showed the typical traits of a servant—either fawning over the young master or pretending to be fiercely loyal to the young lady.

A servant, after all, was supposed to stand up for their master.