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.
posted on May 20, 2008 - View this thread

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 on Apr 7, 2008 - View this thread

The problem with pennies.
posted on Apr 4, 2008 - View this thread

The Royal Mint revealed their newly designed currency today. Looks pretty sharp.
posted on Apr 2, 2008 - View this thread

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.
posted on Nov 20, 2007 - View this thread

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.
posted on Sep 20, 2007 - View this thread

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

Online coin generator. Sure, it's in German, but you can figure it out.
posted on Aug 1, 2007 - View this thread

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 on Jul 11, 2007 - View this thread

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

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 on May 19, 2007 - View this thread

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 on May 7, 2007 - View this thread

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 on May 6, 2007 - View this thread

The Problem of the Rupee. Starting off as a silver-based unit of currency by the 15th century ruler, Sher Shah Suri, the Rupee (wiki) has had a long and chequered history encompassing most of Asian and East-African colonial history. Issued by the British, the French, the Dutch, the Japanese, the Portuguese, the Germans and even the Danish, the rupee as a brand-name existed far beyond India, Pakistan, Nepal, Maldives, Sri Lanka Seychelles or the Mauritius. _{(more inside)}
posted on Mar 27, 2007 - View this thread

iPod index. Not to be outdone by the Big Mac index, Australian investment bank Commonwealth Securities Ltd. has come up with a new benchmark for assessing the value of global currencies.
posted on Jan 24, 2007 - View this thread

"There are several factors which determine the value of stone money. The first is the number of human lives that were lost on the journey to bring the stone home..." The giant stone coins of Yap were used for hundreds of years before the island experienced inflation of the most literal kind due to the entrepreneurship of a shipwrecked American fugitive. Today, the Yap islanders are trying to save their currency, as well as their caste system; while an economist at the Federal Reserve considers what Yap says about our money. [last link pdf, some html excerpts here]
posted on Dec 9, 2006 - View this thread

An online gallery of Colonial American Currency. You can browse by colony. They also have images of early lottery tickets. Plus brief and informative essays on subjects such as The Value of Money in Colonial America. You can also relive the Copper Panic of 1789-1799.
posted on Nov 7, 2006 - View this thread

Art Money is an alternative, worldwide currency in the form of original works of art. The Bank of International Art Money is an independent organization directed by artists and free from any form of government financing.
posted on Oct 15, 2006 - View this thread

The Bitchun Society is now open for all of your Whuffie-market needs. Or cynical mocking, take your pick. Via (of course) BoingBoing. Can a brother get a ping? Confused?
posted on Oct 6, 2006 - View this thread

Pyramids with eyeballs on top notably absent. There was a time when one could ride into washington D.C. and turn paper into silver. NSFW if 19th century engravings of carelessly draped breasts might be hard to explain.
posted on Aug 6, 2006 - View this thread

Ever wondered what old amounts of money would be worth today? Or what you could buy with your current salary if you went back 200, 400, or 600 years? Now you can find out with a tool that converts English currency from 1270 onwards into today's prices. Based on Treasury records, it tells you that Mr Darcy's £10,000 a year would now be worth nearly £350,000, or that your house would only have to be worth the equivalent of £500 now to qualify for the vote after 1832.
posted on Jun 28, 2006 - View this thread

Currency Collages from CK Wilde of Artichoke Yink Press [via]
posted on Apr 20, 2006 - View this thread

The Axis of Evil has some competition — in Ohio. The Bush Administration continues to apply pressure to North Korea about its alleged counterfeiting of $100 notes: This Korean story quotes Amb. Alexander Vershbow demanding physical proof that Pyongyang has destroyed its forging equipment. On the other hand, according to the BBC, South Korea's intelligence service doubts the North is counterfeiting, although it may have done so in the past. Meanwhile, on the homefront, a 16-year-old has been fingered as the mastermind of a bogus bill ring operating out of the boy's home in North College Hill, OH. Oddly, the Cincinnati Enquirer article announcing the bust is chock-full of juicy tips for would-be home engravers: rip off old bills rather than new, don't overlook those colored fibers, and set the wash cycle for delicates. Oh, and don't even think about using scissors: it's a sure giveaway!
posted on Feb 19, 2006 - View this thread

It's all about the Hamiltons. The new US $10 bill makes it's debut on March 2nd, 2006. How will it 'stack up' against other nations' works of art?
posted on Feb 10, 2006 - View this thread

Own 100,000,000 little pieces of Iraq. Or just one very special 500 dinar note from this guy.

*Hand on Heart* I have made many great friends (Mimi, Khalid, Naif, Colby... and about 900 others here at eBay alone) through doing this and hopefully we can realize some fruit from our collective efforts in the future :-)
posted on Sep 25, 2005 - View this thread

The history of the dollar. Ever since they started minting "tolars" in the Czech town of Jáchymov, the dollar has been one of the most important currencies in the world. It got it’s biggest boost after the Spanish started mining silver in the Andes and minting them into “Mexican Dollars”. This influx of silver dollars had effects all around the globe, including being a major factor in the fall of the Ming dynasty. Because of the economic dominance of the U.S. and because oil is traded in Petro-dollars, the dollar is still the world’s most important currency. But could an Iranian oil bourse put an end to the dollar’s dominance? Also money slang! Iran and the dollar talked about here
posted on Sep 1, 2005 - View this thread

China ends (sort of) Yuan dollar peg. The People's Bank of China announced that it has formally ended its peg of the Yuan against the US dollar. Instead, it will be fixed within a narrow band against a basket of currencies (PBC statement here). Interestingly, the PBC declined to provide details of this new scheme, including which currencies are in the new basket. A slow move away from being tied to the pathological US economy? What are the implications for the US's ability to maintain enormous trade and budget deficits? Already, this has relaxed the pressure on other Asian economies to keep their currencies low (by buying US dollars and securities). Congressmen may have been raging against "unfair Chinese trading practices", but we may yet get nostalgic for the days when the world financed the US's prolifigate ways.
posted on Jul 21, 2005 - View this thread

A cool idea, and a fun allegory: Bird and butterfly collages made with old bank notes (two pages, horizontal scrolling). Click the images to view larger versions and see the notes that were used (scroll down). More here without the note source info.
posted on May 10, 2005 - View this thread

Buried Treasure Found In Backyard. (Google cache) "The men were digging holes to plant trees in a friend's back yard when Crebase hit a wooden crate buried less than a foot below the surface. Inside were seven rusted cylindrical cookie tins, including one where 'National Biscuit Company,' and the word 'Ginger,' were legible through the thick rust. They flipped one of the tops, which was fastened with two hooks, and found it 'jammed' with the money."
posted on Apr 27, 2005 - View this thread

Paper currency gallery. From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
posted on Feb 14, 2005 - View this thread

Euro's rise raises 'catastrophic' fears The euro rose on Thursday, topping $1.35 for the first time ever, amid speculation that the United States would not act to counter the dollar's decline. . "If we remain in a situation without any coordination, we can imagine a catastrophic situation" for the global economy, Finance Minister Hérve Gaymard of France told manufacturers during a factory visit Thursday in Strasbourg
posted on Dec 24, 2004 - View this thread

Will Currency Wars Effect You? Oldman gives a quick run-through of the geopolitics of America's budget deficit, with some likely scenarios for the next 2-5 years.
posted on Nov 18, 2004 - View this thread

New Nickels On The Way! My metafilter loving friend Jeff says, "Why bother." I'm excited about it though. I've got lots of change from everywhere. Am I barely qualified to do laundry around the world, or is it pretty neat that foreign money looks fake? Is Jeff right? Is small change a waste of time? Can you judge a state by its quarter?
posted on Mar 4, 2004 - View this thread

Currency Den.
posted on Feb 23, 2004 - View this thread

Put MLK on the $20 Bill. Conservatives have clamored to put Ronald Reagan on the dime or the $10 bill. One outfit wants to name something after Reagan in each of the US's counties. Why not put one of "the greatest moral leaders of the 20th century" on one of our most commonly used pieces of currency instead? (Better to have King on the $20 than Andrew Jackson, whose unconstitutional Indian Removal policy created the "Trail of Tears.")
posted on Jan 19, 2004 - View this thread

Behold the answer to the Canadian Change conspiracy.
posted on Nov 22, 2003 - View this thread

Behold the fuzzback! The new $20 bill comes out today, with its peachy background stripe. For a little perspective in how far we've come, Check out U.S. Currency from the past. The largest denomination paper U.S. currency (for bank transfers in the day before electronic money) to the a small denomination in paper (payable in gold dust). The smallest I could find is a 2-cent bill issued by a druggist.
posted on Oct 9, 2003 - View this thread

Wisconsin has picked its quarter design! Gov. Jim Doyle Tuesday overruled an advisory panel and told the U.S. Mint to put a cow, wheel of cheese and ear of corn on Wisconsin's commemorative quarter, despite fears that it won't reflect the state's cities or its rich ethnic heritage
posted on Oct 1, 2003 - View this thread

Check out the new $200 bill.
posted on Sep 15, 2003 - View this thread

Have you ever seen a $100,000 bill?
From the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco's Historical Currency Gallery.
posted on Sep 13, 2003 - View this thread

Some Action for Jackson A peek at the new $20 bill that will be dropped into circulation Oct. 9.
posted on Sep 9, 2003 - View this thread

Interview with Bernard Lietaer. In this engrossing interview with economist, author, professor and businessman, Bernard Lietaer, he argues that complementary currencies (time dollars, local exchanges, bartering, Ithica dollars, “fureai kippu” (caring relationship tickets)), and other non-dominant currency systems can help to enable social change in small ways. Have any of you had any experience with complementary currencies? More inside...
posted on Aug 1, 2003 - View this thread

Ugly money : burnt bills, Santa singles, good time greenbacks, bodacious bum bucks and then some. On a related but cool note, conceptual currency.
posted on Jul 6, 2003 - View this thread

What if oil was traded in euros? "Even more alarming, and completely unreported in the U.S. media, are significant monetary shifts in the reserve funds of foreign governments away from the dollar with movements towards the euro. It appears that the world community ... seems poised to respond with economic retribution if the U.S. government is regarded as an uncontrollable and dangerous superpower." An analysis of the previous link. Apologies to those I
posted on Apr 23, 2003 - View this thread

Soldiers Find $650 Million in US Currency "A huge cache of United States currency that American soldiers found hidden in one of Saddam Hussein's palaces could be as much as $656 million, senior officials said today."
posted on Apr 19, 2003 - View this thread

The World Currency Gallery at Banknotes.com is excellent for old, new, and obsolete banknotes, and the dmoz.org currency result is enormous. [more]
posted on Nov 26, 2002 - View this thread

Hell Bank Notes are a chinese funeral custom of burning paper money in specialized cemetary ovens for use in the afterlife (Some even feature US Presidents JFK and LBJ). I have heard of instances where entire paper houses or cars are burned in tribute. Find out more about contemporary chinese funeral practices, such as funerary music like Mei Hua Ts'ao (Plum Blossoms) [3 meg mp3] and personal insightful interviews. What unique funeral practices have you witnessed or participated in?
posted on Sep 7, 2002 - View this thread

Have the anti-Euro lobby shot themselves in the foot? A video promoting opposition to the UK joing the Euro has been critisized for including a spoof of Hitler praising the currency. It's attracted publicity for the campaign, all right, but has it unmasked the "No" campaign as anti-Europe "little Englanders"? (Guardian link)
posted on Jul 3, 2002 - View this thread

Did I say devaluation? Nothing important, just another presidential blunder that caused a bit of confussion among Japan traders. Here in Europe it's been all over the place in the news and I am surprised that that little detail has been absent of the main USA media. I'm sure I didn't do my (online) homework well, could you please help me?

Maybe is that the European media jumps at every oportunity to ridiculize Bush? Or is the american media protecting Bush image inside the USA?

Could things like this controversial Pentagon plan be the beguinning of a New Media War? We begin by hidding the little things and then we'll go for bigger and bigger blackouts, and then even lies?
posted on Feb 20, 2002 - View this thread

How geeks can do away with cash and be their own banks. We've been around the topic of alternative economics a few times before on MeFi, but this piece from the reliably clever Shift makes it all clear to me. How you can do it, and why. And it actually suggests that programmers are the best people to manage a new money system. There's even a Bay Area monetary guru to hand. Does this make as much sense to anyone else as it does to me?
posted on Feb 6, 2002 - View this thread