Saturday, August 25, 2018

Some Pictures of Currency

In my experience, everyone likes pictures of money. Here are a few from a short article called "Striking the Right Note: An inside look at paper money around the world," by Tadeusz Galeza and James Chan, published in the IMF journal Finance & Development (June 2018, pp. 60-61).

If you wanted to put the equivalent of $1 million or more in currency in a suitcase, what currencies might you use? 

How much to fill a briefcase

How many zeros can you fit on a currency note? Yugoslavia managed 11 zeros, but Zimbabwe went to 14 zeros. I don't know how many zeros Venezuela has on its currency these days.

Hyperinflation Bills
Sometimes it takes three paper notes to buy a cup of coffee. Sometimes it takes two notes to buy a car.

Comparing Real Value Based on Largest Banknotes
There's even a quirky little classroom-friendly cartoon video appended to the article on "The History of Paper Money."