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Banknotes fading away

Started by Figleaf, April 21, 2008, 09:05:08 AM

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Figleaf

Interesting. Current US money is sold for more than it's face value. If they could do that with the other banknotes the problem of the weak dollar would be solved. ;) Seriously, doesn't the fact that these notes are sold over face value mean that there is demand for the notes? Or does demand from collectors not count as demand?

I remember paying with 1000 gulden notes. I paid cash for my first car. But that's all a long time ago. Today, there are plenty places where stickers tell you they don't accept any notes over €50 and even those are regarded with suspicion. So will banknotes be phased out before coins?

Peter

When will the United States make a 1,000 dollar bill?
Jessica Wyland, Article Launched: 04/19/2008 05:02:30 PM PDT

Judging by the current state of our national economy, I don't see $1,000 bills going into production any time soon. In my own wallet I find it thrilling enough to see a $20, or gasp!, a $50 bill!

To learn more about the possibility of our government printing a thousand-dollar bill, I contacted Claudia Dickens at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, commonly referred to as the U.S. Mint.

"At this time, Congressional law allows us to produce seven currency denominations - $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100," Dickens said.

The $1,000 bill (along with the $500, $5,000 and $10,000 bills) was once an issued denomination of paper currency. Grover Cleveland, the country's 22nd and 24th president, appeared on the $1,000 bill.

"In 1969, the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve System announced that notes larger than the $100 denomination would be taken out of circulation due to declining usage," Dickens said.

To make large purchases people now rely on currency other than cash including wire transfers, personal checks, and debit and credit cards. Consequently, Dickens explained, there are no plans in the immediate future to reinstate the $1,000 bill or any other large denominations of currency.

The outmoded bills were returned to the government as they were deposited by bank customers. So I asked Dickens what the chances are of running across a $1,000 bill, say as cash back at the gas station.
"There are still many in circulation today but mostly in the hands of collectors and numismatic museums," Dickens said.

After I looked up "numismatic" in the dictionary, I asked Dickens how a person could get their hands on a $1,000 bill. (Numismatic, by the way, means of or relating to currency. It comes from the Latin word for coin.)

"The only way to obtain them now is to purchase them from reputable collectors, and I'm told they are on eBay for sale, too," she said. "Quite frankly, they have no special significance other than they aren't printed now."

A quick eBay search turned up several $1,000 bills priced as high as $4,000 a piece.

Source: The Sun (not the UK Sun, the San Bernardino Sun :D )

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

chrisild

Quote from: Figleaf on April 21, 2008, 09:05:08 AM
Or does demand from collectors not count as demand?

Guess that is the issue here. In circulation, such high denomination notes are neither needed not encountered. So anybody who, for whichever reason, wants a $1000 will have to buy it, just like we would buy rare coins at more than face. :)

Since you mention your first car - actually cash is still king over here when you buy a used car, especially from a private seller. For most other purposes ... well, don't ask me why we have €200 and €500 notes. Such high denominations were useful when other means of payment were either not available or less reliable. But now?

One odd piece of info in that article though. Quote: "I contacted Claudia Dickens at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, commonly referred to as the U.S. Mint." Is that actually common usage in the US - I mean, not among collectors and other "specialists" who would know the difference between the Mint and the BEP, but (ahem) regular people?

Christian

Oklahoman

That terminology is not common usage in the United States.

chrisild

Good to know. :)  Incidentally, a few days ago I read that there are people in the US who would like to see high denomination notes. https://www.coinworld.com/news/paper-money/2017/10/economist-calls-for-the-return-of-the-500-dollar-note.html Economist Jay L. Zagorsky (Ohio State University) argues that, for example, "natural disasters (show) the flaws in a system entirely dependent on electricity." Another issue is possible hacks.

The article has a link to Zagorsky's text in The Conversation where he writes: "When it works, a cashless society is wonderful. (...) However, a cashless society means a country's economy is vulnerable to anything that causes a long-term disruption in power, communications or security. And those threats are rising."

Could of course be a single voice that nobody will actually listen to. And the PM bugs will probably claim that paper money is an Italian car manufacturer anyway, and that only gold is king. ;)

Christian

Figleaf

Les extrèmes se touchent. Cashless is a chance for the electronic underworld to ransom society. Ridiculously high banknotes ar a chance for criminals to use traceless financing. The truth is in the middle and not in the extremes.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.