William Bramley/The Gods of Eden/21/216/0

Since the farmer may find it difficult to admit that he had issued many more notes than he had chickens, he may try to save his reputation by lying, such as by saying that a fierce chicken plague had wiped out half of his flock. That will probably not prevent him from becoming very unpopular. Public faith in his notes will be destroyed. He will either have to revert back to straight barter, or else he will need to acquire someone else's notes in order to continue trading in the market.