The friendly man shocks the bar by paying for everybody's drinks with a silver quarter. His ruthless killing in the street outside surprises nobody.

When private detective Crain Dalton seeks out the beautiful widow, he uncovers a plot to buy local elections with the only kind of money worth anything anymore — silver and gold, once again illegal to own.

Down the mean streets of the near-future, a man must go . . .

Welcome to the future of the United States:

Economic malaise and poverty and want for the vast majority of people.

Ecological decay.

Lots of paper money that buys nothing.

Criminal gangs and politicians cooperate to run the government, and split the swag.

Big cities deteriorating into hellholes.

A lot like the present, only worse . . .

Yet, as the world grows more and more amoral, Crain battles the powerful in defense of humanity dignity.

Until now, unavailable for over thirty years! A science fiction, hardboiled private detective short story, The Copper Quarter originally appeared in the February 1979 issue of AMAZING.

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