From 片山廣子「コーヒー五千円」
Ｓはわかい時から外国を廻り歩いた人なのでたいそうギヤラントで、よく私たちに調子を合せて話をしてくれた。中国に相当に長い月日を過して来たからＳはよく中国の話をした。その時分上海が非常なインフレになつたので、紙幣（おさつ）をかばんに一ぱいつめ込んでレストーランに行き料理をたべる話なぞきかせた。「コーヒーが一杯五千円です」と彼が言つた。まだその時分私たちの東京ではコーヒーが一円ぐらゐなものであつたらう。
月日 つきひ (a span of) time
インフレ inflation
紙幣 おさつ paper money (usually read as しへい)
NOTE: ぐらゐ is the old kana spelling of ぐらい (wi instead of i) and であつたらう of であったろう (no small tsu and au instead of ou). Before WWII, there were also no strict rules concerning okurigana, hence the 過す instead of 過ごす. This type of kana is called 旧仮名遣い きゅうかなづかい, or ‘old kana usage’. Some authors, such as 丸谷才一 まるやさいいち for example, continued to write in this style even after the war, when kana usage was simplified and standardized.
Translation:
Because S had spent his younger years traveling abroad, he was very galant and often entertained us with his stories. As he had spent quite a bit of time in China he spoke of it often. He told us about how Shanghai was experiencing severe inflation at the time and how he would bring a bag stuffed full of bills just to have a meal at a restaurant. “A cup of coffee was 5000 yen,” he said. Back then, a coffee in Tokyo was probably no more than 1 yen.
百円？一円？