Do we americans abuse our currency?

Just out of curiousity, since I rarely see crumpled foreign bills and all day I see 1s and 5s ripped, creased and written on and even stamped with "Wheres george? track this bill at www......"

(I actually did go on that website, and that one at a certain point was in montana)

Maybe (ooh, conspiracy) foreigners in other countries (like Americans visiting Canada or something) are only given neat, uncrinkled bills. That way Americans are always given the impression that foreign money is much cleaner and neater, thus giving us inferiority complexes (like that'd happen, we're too arrogant).

I don't see much foreign currency, but I have noticed that american currency tends to get scribbled on a lot, or contains odd foreign substances stuck to it. I saw a dollar bill recently that looked like it was used for... uh... the "paperwork" after a #2...
:sick2:

Clearly our money is abused but I don't think it's just a US thing. The goofy thing of writing on money may be confined to the US. I've seen ratty Canadian, Japanese, Korean, Mexican and Philippine money crumpled and dirty while in the military. My favorite money from a practical standpoint is the Japanese Yen and this may be a partial solution to ratty currency. When I was there the most exchanged money seemed to be a 500-yen coin which was about $8 American at the time. It's about the size of a quarter or maybe slightly smaller. After a few months there I had a teacup full of them. When I counted them I was shocked to find I had the about $400 American worth of Yen coins in the cup.

I would say that we abuse our money, but so do the others. I've seen and used other currency and they are just as bad when paper is used more often. Also note that other places use coins more often than the paper form, which can result in less use/exchange for the paper.

Yeah, just today I used a rolled up twenty to snort some crack.


J/K

It is true though that there is a trace amount of crack on almost all US paper money...

did you know that even a tiny bit of rippled on any US dollar bills could reduce its value by up to 50 points at money changers in indonesia. so, you wouldn't want to put U.S. dollar bills in your wallet, you gotta put the bills in an envelope.

when i returned home to indonesia from the U.S., most money changers didn't want to accept my dollar bills, they said my bills were all wrinkled and look "unnatural" as if they had been altered. WTF ?? i told 'em, back in the U.S., all the banks would still accept my money even if they had been cut in two pieces.

Yeah, just today I used a rolled up twenty to snort some crack...

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The abuse of money in the US really starts with decisions made at the top.

I personally love the picture of Kieth Richards on the twenties but it's not hard to see that it could have strange effects on some....

I think one of the biggest reasons for seeing worn currency in the US is that we keep it in circulation longer than other countries. Most other nations change the designs on their currency very often, which makes for pretty money, but is hard to recognize by foreigners. US currency has remained largely unchanged for 100 years. This is not to say that anything in circulation is that old, but the changes that are made such as the introduction of the new $20 bill with the colored background are made about every 8 years. Even after these changes, many of the older style bills remain in use, so some may be 16 years old or even older. The one dollar bill is unlike the higher denominations in that it has not changed design in over 20 years due to the fact that it is not counterfitted very often. This means that $1 bills can be extremely old and worn before they are taken out of circulation. Since the currency in other countries is almost constantly changing, it does not have the chance to see as much use as US currency does.

This is a entertaining thread.. I agree with bexteck.

I don't like coin money though. Besides being heavy, its easy to loose. I wouldn't want to loose an $8 coin!! much rather have thin paper money in my wallet.

A lot of people don't use wallets either, they just shove the money in their pockets. Then it gets washed/etc.

See the bureau of printing and engraving for more details.

The life span of the dollar is lowest of all, with the 100 being the highest.

But, in a paradox to that, the 100 is supposed to be the most common bill.

I think the real abuse of currency was talked about in a newspaper article I read a while ago. It said that a certain percentage of Americans, mostly younger ones, threw pennies in the trash because they never used them and didn't want to take the time to sort them.

I'll never understand that. The pennies I roll up keep me in AAs.

Yea, we probably do abuse our currency.

Heck, I even abuse myself. Ahem.

Saw a program about US paper currency on Public TV once. It was stated that US paper currency has an average life of about 18 months. The old bills are culled out of circulation and ground up. The ground up currency is sold to oil drilling companies. It's used to make "mud", used in oil drilling.

oldgrandpajack

Well, I certainly waste enough on frivolous and unnecessary purchases

I work part-time as a hotel receptionist, and yes, the US dollars I got from American travellers are some of the sorriest looking bill I've I ever seen (and I have seen some sorry-looking bills, in e.g. China). And it's not just the one-dollar bills, I once got a twenty that was literally like fish net and held together only with tape.

bexteck said:

I think one of the biggest reasons for seeing worn currency in the US is that we keep it in circulation longer than other countries. Most other nations change the designs on their currency very often, which makes for pretty money, but is hard to recognize by foreigners. US currency has remained largely unchanged for 100 years.

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I don't think design changes has anything to do with it. Bank notes in circulation are replaced regularly regardless of whether the design changes. I think since the demand for the dollar is so high, there's simply a LOT more dollar bills in circulation (or in stash) worldwide than any other currency. As a consequnce of that, the US government can not cost-efficiently replace all the bills as fast as other countries can.

Even if the bills in the US itself is regularly replaced, there would probably still be quite a steady flow of older bills coming from abroad which have been in circulation much longer without replacement.

It is my impression that USA paper money tends to look old and tatty almost after the first use. I don't think it helps that your paper money feels cheap and nasty (at least compared to GB£ in my humble opinion). Some countries like Austrialia and New Zealand have long since moved away from paper to a plastic-type note which I find quite a good idea.

Al

did ya know most money has the aids virus all over it

Shanghaied said:

I work part-time as a hotel receptionist, and yes, the US dollars I got from American travellers are some of the sorriest looking bill I've I ever seen (and I have seen some sorry-looking bills, in e.g. China). And it's not just the one-dollar bills, I once got a twenty that was literally like fish net and held together only with tape.

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I've pulled some bills like that out of the lake that I lifeguard at. One summer I think the aquatics staff found around $65 both loose and in wallets. Cub Scouts have a hard time holding on to their money it seems.

Shanghaied said:

I don't think design changes has anything to do with it. Bank notes in circulation are replaced regularly regardless of whether the design changes. I think since the demand for the dollar is so high, there's simply a LOT more dollar bills in circulation (or in stash) worldwide than any other currency. As a consequnce of that, the US government can not cost-efficiently replace all the bills as fast as other countries can.

Even if the bills in the US itself is regularly replaced, there would probably still be quite a steady flow of older bills coming from abroad which have been in circulation much longer without replacement.

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Yes the bills are pulled from circulation once they have become too worn, but this can only happen if they pass through a bank. I'm sure there are some bills that have not seen the inside of a bank in a very long time, especially those that are in use on foreign soil.

raggie33 said:

did ya know most money has the aids virus all over it

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Nya, it's a fragile virus, can't go long at all outside the body.

There is a bunch of stuff that can be found on bills, but as a disease vector they've never had a lot going on.