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Cartoon images of "worshiping cats" on the Chinese 100 yuan RMB banknotes, "the equivalent of the 'Eye of Providence' on the US dollar," probably weren't designed as cartoon cats. A coin expert noted that there were no cat's whiskers on the bank note, as shown on the "clarified" image. But if you're looking for hidden images in Chinese currency, World War II era Chinese currency has many cases of hidden messages and over-printed propaganda (part 2 of a series on WWII Allied banknote propaganda).
posted by filthy light thief on Feb 9, 2012 - 13 comments

Note Worthy: [guardian.co.uk] Global economic meltdown, the euro crisis and Occupy protests – this year has been dominated by financial issues. But what is money anyway? We invited writers and artists including Jonathan Franzen, Margaret Atwood and Naomi Klein to invent new currencies and banknotes for a changed world.
posted by Fizz on Dec 17, 2011 - 13 comments

It's smooth, it's stretchy, it's waterproof - Canada's new currency feels a lot like the celluloid film you used to load into your old-fashioned camera. [more inside]
posted by mannequito on Nov 14, 2011 - 67 comments

The United States Secret Service is warning about an old scam that's recently popped up again in New England: black money. [more inside]
posted by Halloween Jack on Nov 4, 2011 - 89 comments

On the front of every United States Federal Reserve Note, there appear two signatures: that of the Secretary of the Treasury, and of the Treasurer of the United States. Take a look at any note printed since 1949 and you might notice a pattern: since that Treasurer, a Kansan named Georgia Neese Clark, that office has been exclusively held by women.
posted by ocherdraco on Oct 12, 2011 - 27 comments

Blind Man vs. Paper Money - the Blind Film Critic demonstrates the problems of using (American) paper money. Unsurprisingly, just getting cash out of an ATM poses its own problem. [more inside]
posted by desjardins on Sep 27, 2011 - 47 comments

Has Bruce Wagner pulled off a massive scam on the bitcoin community? Bruce Wagner was for a time the public face of the new electronic currency. He was the go-to guy for journalists looking for insight into bitcoin. He even began running his own online TV network which attracted multiple sponsors. Now, things have begun to unravel for Wagner. MyBitcoin was a bitcoin bank Wagner had heavily promoted on his shows. One day, it vanished from the Internet. When it returned, MyBitcoin claimed to have been hacked and that it was only able to refund 49% of deposits. Wagner's early promotion and history of involvement in equity stripping mortgage scams has led to suspicion that he is somehow involved in MyBitcoin, despite claiming to be one of the biggest victims. [more inside]
posted by furiousxgeorge on Sep 1, 2011 - 448 comments

After receiving a $20,000 grant from the Australia Council, Denis Beaubois set about creating his artwork, Currency, 2011, by withdrawing $20,000 from a teller at the Reserve Bank of Australia and writing down the serial numbers. The artwork sold at auction yesterday for $17,500. [more inside]
posted by robcorr on Aug 31, 2011 - 75 comments

Pop-Cultured Currency - Technically, defacing US currency is a crime – but artist James Charles doesn’t seem to be in any legal trouble for his awesome series of Pop Culture Cash. His portraits, created on real money using ink, turn dead presidents into colorfully amusing pop culture icons. Alternate site with larger pics.
posted by KevinSkomsvold on Jul 21, 2011 - 22 comments

It's all about the Bordens. The Bank of Canada unveils its new series of polymer bank notes. Because no one wants soggy bills when you're makin' it rain.
posted by GuyZero on Jun 20, 2011 - 68 comments

Make your Franklin is a site which accepts submissions of recreated 100 USD banknotes.
posted by gman on May 24, 2011 - 33 comments

Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer digital currency. Trading at eight dollars this week—and being used to pay for everything from freelance programming jobs to magic mushrooms—it has been described as “the most dangerous open-source project ever created” and “an unambiguous challenge to the government monopoly on the power to print money.” Estimated at over 20 petaFLOPS the Bitcoin network is currently the fastest virtual supercomputer in the world. [more inside]
posted by howlingmonkey on May 18, 2011 - 296 comments

Out of thin air? "Have you ever said something like 'Let me buy you a beer next week'? I'm sure you have. We all issue promises of this sort. And we frequently use such promises as a form of currency... I have just described a simple credit exchange. Societies rely heavily on promising-making and promise-keeping. It is the foundation of all financial markets. I'd like to point out something about the promises you make. They are made 'out of thin air.' " [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Apr 14, 2011 - 47 comments

*Sooo* much hotter than Andrew Jackson. Sveriges Riksbank has announced that great Greta Garbo will grace the sexy, new blue-themed 100 Krona note, Sweden's closest equivalent to the US $20 bill. In April, the Riksbank is announcing a design competition for the banknotes, with the final design selected by early 2012, and the currency released by 2014-2015. Other new faces in Sweden's complete currency makeover include author Astrid Lindgren, musician Evert Taube, director Ingmar Bergman, sopranist Birgit Nilsson, and diplomat Dag Hammarskjöld.
posted by markkraft on Apr 6, 2011 - 55 comments

In February 2006, a group of criminals pulled off the biggest cash heist in the history of the UK, making off with £53 million pounds. To date, only £23 million of the money has been recovered. Police are understandably upset about the dead ends in the case.
posted by reenum on Feb 16, 2011 - 12 comments

Meet the new form of prison currency: Honey buns.
posted by reenum on Jan 10, 2011 - 56 comments

For the first time in their freely-traded history, the Australian Dollar, the Canadian Dollar and the US Dollar are all within a penny of parity.
posted by 256 on Oct 15, 2010 - 57 comments

Beautiful banknote vignettes which were used in the 19th century by the United States to combat counterfeiters. Brought to you by MeFi's peacay.
posted by gman on Sep 24, 2010 - 9 comments

Dowling Duncan redesign the US bank notes . [more inside]
posted by domnit on Aug 26, 2010 - 179 comments

India unveils new rupee symbol. The new symbol. Measures are already afoot to have the rupee sign declared a computer standard, meaning it could join currencies such as the pound, dollar, euro and yen on keyboards within two years. And in case you wondered, Where do currency symbols come from?
posted by Fizz on Jul 16, 2010 - 43 comments

Pounds Sterling to Dollars: Historical Conversion of Currency Click here to read an explanation of the calculations.
posted by Fizz on Jul 4, 2010 - 15 comments

For almost 20 years, Art Williams, Jr. was one of the country's eminent currency counterfeiters. His greatest achievement: counterfeiting the new (at the time) $100 bill (PDF link). [more inside]
posted by reenum on Jun 4, 2010 - 22 comments

Idaho recently passed H.B. 633 (.pdf) that will allow Idaho citizens to pay their state taxes with an official state silver medallion. The news comes just a month after a South Carolina legislator introduced a bill seeking to ban Federal currency altogether, and replace the upstart greenback with gold or silver coins. Meanwhile, Georgia has introduced the "Sound Money in Banking Act" which would require any bank serving as a depository for the state to offer and accept gold and silver coins for deposit. Is gold making a comeback as currency?
posted by julie_of_the_jungle on Mar 20, 2010 - 111 comments

Defaced Presidents [more inside]
posted by ardgedee on Feb 25, 2010 - 25 comments

Iranian protesters are putting messages of dissent on currency via
posted by Daddy-O on Dec 7, 2009 - 26 comments

Use the ($2) Two / Track the ($2) Two (and the $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100) [more inside]
posted by MrBCID on Oct 18, 2009 - 42 comments

"If the Swiss can do it on a regular basis, why can't we North Americans too." The Dollar ReDe$ign Project believes its time for the United States to switch from the old to something new in the field of American currency. As a result, a contest was developed and submissions accepted. They range from the cultural to the cynical, and a salute to American space achievements to update designs to the present content.
posted by Atreides on Oct 14, 2009 - 126 comments

Banknotes are a fascinating look into the artistry and culture of the countries of the world. [more inside]
posted by reenum on Aug 18, 2009 - 20 comments

The Goat Who Took on the Fed: WSJ's Andy Jordan spends time in the Berkshires to see how locals make the case for "slow money" with their own local currency, "The Berkshare". (previously 1 2 3 4) [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Aug 3, 2009 - 14 comments

UnitConversion.org is quite the resource to easily convert between different units of measurement. It has over 2100 units in 78 categories, which range from those that are common, such as, length, weight, volume, currency, velocity, and pressure, to more specialized categories like magnetic flux density, electrostatic capacitance, and surface tension.
posted by netbros on Jun 11, 2009 - 27 comments

The exceptionally informative and well illustrated Galerie Ezakwantu has great pages on African tribal art, culture and history [due to partial nudity many links NSFW]: African Lip Plugs - Lip Plates; African Currency - African Slave Beads; Jewelry; African Scarification; Thrones and Stools; Shields; Combs; Musical Instruments; Fertility Dolls; Weapons; Zulu Basketry; Contemporary Art; Cups; Tribal Currency; Zulu Ricksha attire; Southern Africa Tribal Migrations; South African Kings and Chiefs. Also some interesting pages on anger about Robert Mugabe; the sale of the gallery owner's property; Cape Dutch Homesteads and blueberry recipes. [more inside]
posted by nickyskye on May 17, 2009 - 8 comments

China proposes replacing the dollar as the world's standard currency. [more inside]
posted by ornate insect on Mar 23, 2009 - 63 comments

As the national debt is monetized we may revive that phrase "you needed a wheelbarrow of cash to buy a loaf of bread." Notgeld, German for "Emergency Money" or "necessity money." 896 beautiful examples.
posted by wallstreet1929 on Feb 15, 2009 - 22 comments

Hard up for cash? Roll your own :P [more inside]
posted by kliuless on Feb 8, 2009 - 36 comments

The FT's Davos blog offers a range of informed comment as our leaders gather in Switzerland to consider the economic mess we're in. But will the ongoing spat between the US and China over the renminbi exchange rate overshadow all else at the World Economic Forum?
posted by Abiezer on Jan 28, 2009 - 17 comments

People with a keen strategic sense maintain a well-diversified hoard of coins and painstakingly build alliances with local shopkeepers or bank tellers, conspicuously proffering coins for one purchase or deposit in the hopes of being indulged when they're short of change at some point in the future. Argentina's coinage problem. [more inside]
posted by cortex on Dec 3, 2008 - 19 comments

Gold Standard, Way before then, Then, Now, and... [more inside]
posted by Rafaelloello on Nov 16, 2008 - 50 comments

Stemming from a lawsuit that has gone on for several years, a recent Court of Appeals ruled that the U.S. government must make bills with distinguishable tactile features to benefit the blind. While the U.S. government disagrees, the judges say: "The government might as well argue that, since handicapped people can crawl on all fours or ask for help from strangers, there's no need to make buildings wheelchair accessible." Not all blind people agree with the decision. [more inside]
posted by jabberjaw on May 20, 2008 - 74 comments

Inflation in Zimbabwe recently reached 160,000%. Get in on the ground floor now by purchasing a $50,000,000 bill (currently selling for 20,000x its value). Dare to become a millionaire!
posted by splatta on Apr 7, 2008 - 93 comments

The problem with pennies.
posted by veedubya on Apr 4, 2008 - 98 comments

The Royal Mint revealed their newly designed currency today. Looks pretty sharp. [more inside]
posted by zeoslap on Apr 2, 2008 - 95 comments

Secret Service and FBI raid Liberty Mint, arguments of counterfeiting versus constitutional right to commerce ensue! I caught this on NPR this morning. It seems the US Mint doesn't like alternative currencies circulating within the US. The organization in question wants to abolish the Federal Reserve and the US mint and claims that both are the cause for the excessive inflation. [more inside]
posted by Sam.Burdick on Nov 20, 2007 - 97 comments

On Tuesday, the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.5%. Wall Street aggressively demanded the cut to stop the sub-prime mortgage contagion from triggering a credit crisis among large US and foreign investment banks and the collapse of their over-leveraged hedge funds, which ultimately threatened to drag the US economy into recession. The market rallied this week in response to the Fed's move. But there is no free lunch. [more inside]
posted by Pastabagel on Sep 20, 2007 - 99 comments

Australian art student Nicholas Manion has hit upon a clever idea: delicately cut paper currency forming the skyline of major cities. Via.
posted by jonson on Aug 3, 2007 - 10 comments

Online coin generator. Sure, it's in German, but you can figure it out.
posted by mr_crash_davis on Aug 1, 2007 - 29 comments

Banknote art by Justine Smith. Alternating currency: by Marshall Weber, portraits in money by Mark Wagner, a Ganesh out of Rupee notes by CK Wilde (a spectacular previously). Beautiful banknotes at the World Paper Money Image Gallery. Unusual coins. Unique banknotes, like the 100 Million Dinara note from Croatia. U.S. currency and the pictures behind the portraits. Mildenberg's Dream Collection of Greek Coins at the Money Museum.
posted by nickyskye on Jul 11, 2007 - 19 comments

"I'm all outta dollars, you got any Berkshares?" Several Great Barrington, Massachusetts businesses have developed a local currency to promote local business.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Jun 21, 2007 - 34 comments

Proof that artistic inspiration can come from any walk of life, Anthony White has turned his former life as a stockbroker into inspiration for a series of Stock Code paintings. Also available - paintings depicting different values of British, American, Australian, and Euro currency.[via ArtNews Blog]
posted by grapefruitmoon on May 19, 2007 - 29 comments

Updatefilter: Apparently a poppy was the cause of espionage accusations. As reported here on the blue, some US contractors were apparently freaked out by a novel Canadian coin which featured a red poppy. The coin was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint, an organization that makes Canadian cash as well as currencies for other countries. The Mint, which is definitely worth a tour if you're in Ottawa, won an award for the coin. The coin was issued to honour Canadian war dead; the poppy is the symbol of the Royal Canadian Legion.
posted by Zinger on May 7, 2007 - 46 comments

Moneygami is origami made from U.S. currency; the subtle genius lies in the way the artist incorporates the prints on the dollar bills into the facial characteristics of the finished figures. More moneygami here. Via.
posted by jonson on May 6, 2007 - 14 comments