Solar Eclipse

This coin was issued in 1999 on the occasion of the total solar eclipse on August 11th. Its worth was 500 lei (the Romanian currency name is Leu in the singular and Lei in the plural) and as far as I can remember, it was pretty much useless and you couldn't even make a phone call with it. Since then, our money have dropped some zeroes and added some inflation. As a result, today, 500 lei is the 11th part of my monthly salary. I just found a book on my bookshelf, and the price tag shows 9500 lei... today that would be almost two monthly salaries. But today, that book would cost around 60 lei, depending on the publisher.

Not sure if this is minimal. It is rather a closeup. Or a macro. Anyhow, it can be ruled out on shortlisting :D

[borof]

Nice close-up. These commemorative coins are always beautiful and are worth more over time than when they were issued. Worth keeping.

[Mags]

Lovely coin and POV!

[Helge E. Storheim]

I think that one qualifies as a macro :-) Nice one!

[Susan Wakely]

I think your macro shot makes it look bigger than it is.

[moni kozi]

@wakelys Heheee... yes, it does. It is 2.5 cm in diameter. Just a bit wider than my pressed thumb.

[Lesley]

How lovely that they commemorated the eclipse with a coin, and that you got one of them.

[Delboy79]

Think you need to focus stack when you are this close

[Bucktree]

Nice close up shot. I remember walking the streets in Bucharest, there were several different people that always wanted to exchange your dollars for lei. Its interesting how the government has changed the value of the leu.

[moni kozi]

@dkellogg Well, it is some economic artifice. Our old washing machine cost 9.000.000 lei back then. Today one costs about 2000 lei. My first salary was 1.500.000 lei per month. And that was a pretty good salary. My colleagues who stayed to teach in the university were paid 750.000 lei per month.

[Diana]

Great close up and dof. I found your narrative so interesting :-)

[Pyrrhula]

Great close up and pov.

[Leslie]

nice close up/ macro of this interesting coin

[Kathy A]

Fabulous close up and interesting narrative

[LManning (Laura)]

It’s an excellent shot.

[bkb in the city]

Great capture

[moni kozi]

Thank you very much, @borof @marlboromaam @helstor365 @wakelys @tinley23 @delboy207 @dkellogg @ludwigsdiana @pyrrhula @lesip @kjarn @ljmanning and @bkbinthecity

[Wendy]

A super shot.

[Krista Marson]

Interesting info about the currency. Very current topic, inflation is. I grow more concerned about the possibility of hyper-inflation the longer this stupid Russian war goes on for.

[moni kozi]

@farmreporter @blueberry1222 Thank you very much!

[moni kozi]

@blueberry1222 Well, yes. And if you think of it, it is all something so artificial and abstract, ruled by the financial interests of the banks. Banks should be removed. We should be fine with the salary. All commodities should be within the possibilities of all salaries. Just imagine: what would happen if tomorrow all banks were removed / deleted / vanished into thin air. Would we miss a lot?