It doesn’t matter what ludicrous conspiracy theory is stopping you from storing your money in a bank, you’ll be happy to know that the US Department of the Treasury has an entire division dedicated to the task of trying to rebuild and recover currency should your cash-stuffed mattress get destroyed in a fire or flood.
As the value of precious metals fluctuates over time, the U.S. Mint has to constantly find new ways to keep currency manufacturing affordable. A five-cent nickel that costs as much as seven cents to make is a problem, but so is a coin that suddenly looks and feels different because its metallurgic ingredients were…
In addition to providing a payments platform for big clients like Lyft, Facebook, and Target, Stripe has been supportive of cryptocurrencies for several years. On Tuesday, Stripe reiterated its support for a viable digital currency, but said that bitcoin just isn’t cutting it. Going forward, Stripe will no longer…
Do you love puzzles? Probably not as much as conceptual artist Martin John Callanan does. This mind-numbing, 11-minute timelapse shows him spending an entire work day painstakingly reassembling a five-pound mis-printed note that the Bank of England shredded to tiny bits.
Michelangelo’s David is undoubtedly a masterpiece, but would the artist have been as adept with a chisel were he working on a tiny copper penny instead of a giant slab of marble? Using a magnifying scope, artist Shaun Hughes managed to skillfully turn Lincoln’s head into a remarkably detailed skull.
The Royal Mint released 300 million new one pound coins into circulation on Tuesday. The money’s packed with cutting edge anti-counterfeiting measures, including one that British authorities won’t even talk about. Is it a coincidence that this happened the day before British Prime Minister Teresa May triggered the…
Earlier today we noted the recent outcry in Britain over the country’s new £5 note, which is made using a small amount of animal fat. But the British aren’t the only ones with meat money. Canada’s bank notes have tallow as well.
A time capsule sealed by a bank in 1916 was opened in Saratoga Springs, New York this week. And it has many of the things you’d expect—like some photos of the town, a letter from the president of the bank in 1916, and some old coins. But one artifact stuck out as peculiar to the onlookers of 2016: A 10-cent bill.
If you have ever attempted a life as a counterfeiter, or done a stupid school project where you tried to print your own money, you already know this: you can’t make a copy of any type of bill, no matter the denomination. For older bills, it was because of the Eurion constellation, which is an order of dots that…
On paper the Canadian dollar is struggling to keep up with US currency and doesn’t seem like a wise investment. But when you discover that the Canadian Mint now makes an entire line of Star Trek-themed collectible currency, including this delta-shaped gold coin, how could you possibly resist buying them all up?
If you went to Hawaii during World War II, you probably noticed something a little funny about the money. Every greenback had a big bold “HAWAII” plastered across it. Why? In case of a Japanese invasion, of course.
Hyperinflation in Zimbabwe has caused that country’s currency to be worth virtually nothing. So the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is ditching their local currency in favor of US dollars. Soon Zimbabwe’s cash will be used only in the American dadjoke economy, where being a trillionaire and meaning it is the height of comedy.
The German Mark. Lithuanian Litas. Estonian Kroon. Irish Pound. Slovenian Tolar. Portuguese Escudo. Greek Drachma. Slovak Koruna. Maltese Lira. Finnish Markka. Dutch Guilder. Spanish Peseta. Luxembourgish Franc. Belgian Franc. Italian Lira. Cypriot Pound. Austrian Schilling. French Franc. Latvian Lats. All got…
There's an online movement underway to remove our genocidal 7th Prez, Andrew Jackson, from his place of honor on the $20 bill. One advocacy group believes a woman deserves the spot on the $20, since the only lady currently in circulation is Sacagawea on the $1 coin, and all Americans hate dollar coins.
Doodle-driven Canadians have been cleverly defacing their five dollar bills for years, turning the portrait of former Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier into the pop-culture figures he eerily resembles: Spock (seen here) and Harry Potter's Severus Snape.
U.S. currency does change from time to time, but the basic design — green/black background, a portrait on one side, and a pretty picture on the other — has stayed boring for decades. These concept designs for currency, though, are anything but boring.
Did you know that only five percent of Americans travel abroad each year? Beat the odds, get a passport and go see the world. It's easier than you might think. Here's our starter guide for the new traveler.
What happens to old paper money that's too worn out to be used? It's often recycled and made into everything from dog beds to packing materials. But the Philadelphia Federal Reserve office does something even more unique: They send the old currency to local power plants, where it's burned for electricity.
While U.S. currency does change a little on occasional, the basic design of the notes has stayed fairly constant: green/black background, a portrait on one side, and a pretty picture on the other. These concepts take that classic design, and turn it on its head.
