George Washington Never Looked So Good

posted by: Scotty Trigg

from: http://www.icanhasinternets.com/

Granted not all of these are 1$ bills, but for the most part they are. For my buck these masked bills are worth much more than a single dollar. My favorite is probably the Ronald McDonald or the Howard Stern one. Who would you like to see George transformed into?

Click the gallery to view them all

The Life and Death of a $1 Bill

Posted by: Dutch Mechanic
From: http://topcultured.com/

Nothing gets around more than your average dollar bill! Here are some interesting facts brought to you by Online Finance Degree on the typical life span each one holds, and the illegal powdery substances it comes in contact with every day. What is this piece of green paper actually worth?


Via: Online Finance Degree

New $100 Bill Released Today by U.S. Treasury

From: http://techvert.com/
The U.S. Treasury refreshes its currency every once in a while to stay a step ahead of counterfeiters, and this time they’re refreshing the new $100 bill. The new bill will contain a security feature called Motion, where each bill will contain up to 650,000 microlenses embedded in the printing which will allow for an underlying image to shift when the bill is moved. Yep, good old Benjamin Franklin is getting a facelift and here it is (we’ll add more pics as they become available):

Highlights of the new bill:
- 3-D Security Ribbon
- Bell in the inkwell. When you move the note, the bell changes color from copper to green.
- Portrait watermark
- Security Thread
- Color-shifting “100″
- The new note will be issued on February 10, 2011

Maybe George Washington can use some of these to pay for his overdue library books.

Some facts about the U.S. $100 bill:
- There are about 6.5 billion in circulation. That’s $650,000,000,000
- The average $100 bill is replaced every 5 years due to wear
- It is one of only two banknotes that do not feature a president
- The first $100 bill was issued in 1862
- The time on the clock on Independence Hall on the back side of the bill reads 4:10

Most U.S. Money Laced With Cocaine

AFP/File – A sheet of one dollar bills. The dollar sputtered Tuesday on the eve of a US decision on monetary policy, …

By: LiveScience Staff

LiveScience.com

Traces of cocaine taint up to 90 percent of paper money in the United States, a new study finds.

A group of scientists tested banknotes from more than 30 cities in five countries, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, China, and Japan, and found "alarming" evidence of cocaine use in many areas.

U.S. and Canadian currency had the highest levels, with an average contamination rate of between 85 and 90 percent, while Chinese and Japanese currency had the lowest, between 12 and 20 percent contamination.

The findings were presented yesterday at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C.

Study leader Yuegang Zuo of the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth said that the high percentage of contaminated U.S. currency observed in the current study represents nearly a 20 percent jump in comparison to a similar study he conducted two years ago.

"To my surprise, we're finding more and more cocaine in banknotes," Zuo said.

Scientists have known for years that paper money can become contaminated with cocaine during drug deals and directly through drug use, such as snorting cocaine through rolled bills. Contamination can also spread to banknotes not involved in the illicit drug culture, because bills are processed in banks' currency-counting machines.

"I'm not sure why we've seen this apparent increase, but it could be related to the economic downturn, with stressed people turning to cocaine," Zuo said.

Such studies are useful, he noted, because the data can help law enforcement agencies and forensic specialists identify patterns of drug use in a community.

Previous studies that have reported on cocaine traces on money have had several drawbacks, Zuo said. Some only sampled a small number of bills, while others destroyed the money in the process of testing.

Zuo and his colleagues used a modified instrument that allowed for faster, simpler and more accurate measurement of cocaine contamination than other methods, without destroying the currency.

The amounts of cocaine found on U.S. bills ranged from .006 micrograms (several thousands of times smaller than a single grain of sand) to more than 1,240 micrograms of cocaine per banknote (about 50 grains of sand).

The scientists found that larger cities like Baltimore, Boston, and Detroit had among the highest average cocaine levels. Washington, D.C., ranked above the average, with 95 percent of the banknotes sampled contaminated with the drug. The lowest average cocaine levels in U.S. currency appeared on bills collected from Salt Lake City.

Despite the high percentage of cocaine-contaminated banknotes, Zuo points out that the amount of cocaine found on most notes was so small that consumers should not have any health or legal concerns about handling paper money.

"For the most part, you can't get high by sniffing a regular banknote, unless it was used directly in drug uptake or during a drug exchange," Zuo said. "It also won't affect your health and is unlikely to interfere with blood and urine tests used for drug detection.

Incredible Laser Etching on Dollar Bills [Pics]

By: Dahlia Rideout (View Profile)

Critically acclaimed tattoo artist, Scott Campbell, recently showed his work at the O.H.W.O.W. gallery in Miami, FL. The highlight of the evening was a series of laser-cut etchings, each on a stack of $1 bills. The collection is entitled “Make It Rain” and shows a sampling of the artist’s dark and beautiful undertones.

Scott Campbell was born in rural Louisiana and began his career illustrating before mastering the art of tattoo. In 2004, he opened Saved Tattoo in Brooklyn where he perfected his signature style. More at scottcampbelltattoo.com.

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Photo by Norman Lendzion


Photo by Norman Lendzion


Photo by Norman Lendzion

Additional scenes from the show:

Photo by Norman Lendzion


Photo by Norman Lendzion


Photo by Norman Lendzion

Will the US dollar remain king?

By Katie Hunt
Business reporter, BBC News

The dollar's popularity is fading

The dollar's role as the world's dominant currency is coming under intense scrutiny.

This week, China added its voice to demands for a new global currency as an alternative to the dollar in international trade and finance.

It is worried that the dollar's value is being eroded by the steps the US is taking to rescue its economy from the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

The US currency recorded its biggest weekly slide since 1985 last week, after the Federal Reserve said it would begin buying government debt to try to boost the economy, underscoring concerns.

"Calls for a new global currency come at a time when the US dollar is probably at its most vulnerable in many years," says Mitul Kotecha, global head of foreign exchange strategy at French financial services firm Calyon.

Dangers

China's central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan called for a new reserve currency run by the International Monetary Fund.

CURRENCY RESERVES Foreign currency held by a government or a central bank Used to pay foreign debt obligations or influence exchange rates The dollar is viewed as the world's reserve currency as the vast majority of reserves are held in the US currency China suggests switch from dollar US defends dollar as key currency

He said the recent crisis revealed the dangers of relying on one currency.

He echoed similar calls made by Russia, which said it would bring up the topic at next week's G20 meeting.

The US response to China's unusually frank comments confused many investors.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said he was "quite open" to China's idea, triggering a plunge in the dollar.

But he then added that the dollar was likely to remain the world's reserve currency for a long time, helping the currency to recover.

"The machinations of currency policy between the US and China are becoming increasingly intriguing," says Neil Mellor, currency strategist at Bank of New York Mellon.

China has almost $2 trillion in foreign exchange reserves, of which 65% is believed to be in dollars.

Popularity wanes

It is not unheard of for currencies to fall from grace in the global currency league.

Rapper Jay-Z shunned the dollar in favour of euros in a recent video

Sterling was the dominant reserve currency of much of the world in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

The cost of fighting World Wars I and II, as well as the primacy of the US in the world economy, resulted in the pound losing its status.

And there have been anecdotal signs that the dollar's popularity as the world's currency of choice is fading.

In 2007, Indian tourist authorities said they would no longer accept dollars for entrance to the Taj Mahal.

And at home, rapper Jay-Z waved a wad of euros in a music video.

Stable reserves

To be clear, China is not calling for the US to replace the dollar as its own currency.

It is worried that the value of its reserves, which are predominantly held in dollars, is subject to the volatility of the dollar on foreign exchanges.

It has suggested that the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights (SDR) could be used as a reserve currency.

The SDR, which as created in 1969 as a unit of account, was initially pegged to the dollar, but is now based on dollars, euros, sterling and yen.

China's proposal would broaden the basket of currencies forming the SDR to include all large economies. Its use would be expanded and the IMF itself would manage some of the reserves.

The goal is to make currency reserves more stable.

Unrealistic

It is not a new idea. Economist John Maynard Keynes made a similar proposal.

But many analysts say such a move is unrealistic, even in the long term.

The dollar's appeal as a reserve currency is the depth and liquidity of US financial markets, says Mark Williams, international economist at Capital Economics.

This is something which the little-used SDR cannot compete with.

Even the world's next most traded currency, the euro, has not emerged as a true competitor to the dollar.

According to the IMF, the dollar accounts for 65% of declared currency reserves. This is down from 73% in 2001, but the decline also reflects the euro's higher value.

"If the euro falls short, it is hard to see markets for assets denominated in a new currency ever becoming developed enough for it to have a chance of dislodging the dollar, " Mr Williams says.

Furthermore, if China were to ditch the dollar, it would have to tread carefully.

Any suggestion that it is diversifying away from the dollar would dramatically undermine the value of its own reserves.

'Massive impact'

But as the world's largest holder of dollars, China's comments cannot easily be dismissed.

Should reserve managers begin to shift away from the dollar, it would have a "massive impact" on US markets, says Mr Kotecha at Calyon.

The huge appetite for dollars from countries such as China helped keep US mortgage rates low - in part causing the crisis the US economy currently faces.

If foreign investors shy away from buying US debt, it could lead to problems financing the Obama administration's stimulus spending plans.

As such, the US is likely to keep China and other large reserve holders on side and pay lip service to China's demands, even if they are unrealistic.

"It's a pointed reminder that China holds some key cards in its game of diplomatic poker with the US," says Mr Mellor at Bank of New York Mellon.

Why the Dollar Has Once Again Emerged As Currency of Choice

Weak economy ... strong dollar

The bad news for the U.S. never seems to end. But despite all the doom and gloom, the dollar has emerged as the currency of choice once again. Here's why.

By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large

About the author

...and also against the yen. (Click either chart to see the dollar versus other currencies.)

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Stocks are at their lowest levels in about 12 years. The economy shrunk by more than 6% in the fourth quarter. Companies are laying off people left and right.

And oh yeah, the government has essentially nationalized Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and AIG (AIG, Fortune 500).

There's no denying that the U.S. economy is in tatters. But how about that dollar? Yup, despite the unrelenting stream of bad news about the economy and markets, the greenback has stood out as one of the top performing currencies this year.

Talkback: Will the U.S. economy recover before the rest of the world?

The dollar is up about 9% against the euro and 7% versus the Japanese yen so far in 2009. It's also edged slightly higher against the British pound. What gives?

Well, as strange as it may sound, investors may be betting that the U.S., which arguably led the rest of the world into the global recession, will also be the first to emerge from the downturn.

"The U.S. was one of the first nations to respond to the weakness with aggressive monetary policy measures. So it could be one of the first countries out while Japan and Europe might be the last ones out," said Kathy Lien, director of currency research at GFT, a foreign exchange and futures brokerage firm.

Along those lines, even though most of the financial bailout packages have so far been greeted with almost universal disdain by investors in stocks, currency strategists are encouraged that the U.S. is taking more an active role in trying to fix the banking system.

"There a belief that the U.S. is doing more than any other nation to correct their problems. That stems from the different investments by the Fed and the Treasury in the financial sector," said Andrew Busch, global FX market strategist with BMO Capital Markets in Chicago.

Mind you, this does not mean a recovery is around the corner. Lien thinks the U.S. economy is likely to deteriorate further before things finally improve.

Still, as bad as the U.S. economy is faring, it's much worse in other parts of the world. So the dollar is being viewed as a relative pocket of stability.

"The only reason the dollar is rallying is because it is a safe haven play. The problems in Europe are much deeper," Lien said. "Investors are focusing on a prolonged downturn in the U.S. economy and the ramifications for the rest of the world. If the U.S. doesn't recover soon, nobody else will recover."

Busch agreed that the dollar now seems to be the only safe haven among currencies. He pointed out that with interest rates at practically zero, investors are flocking to U.S. Treasurys, despite concerns about what he referred to as a "zeppelin-ing" -- as opposed to merely "ballooning" -- increase in the federal budget deficit this year.

Of course, the dollar rally could quickly come to an end if nations like China, a big buyer of Treasurys, suddenly lose faith in the U.S. But there are no signs of that happening just yet.

To that end, Jacob Oubina, currency strategist at online currency trading site Forex.com, pointed out that last week's U.S. Treasury auctions were oversubscribed.

Meanwhile, he noted that demand was weak for a federal bond auction in Germany earlier this year, a sign that not all countries are going to find it easy to raise new funds to pay for bailouts or other fiscal stimulus.

What that means is that the rest of the world still appears to be confident in the financial solvency of the U.S., even as many Americans seem to doubt that this recession will end anytime soon.

"The global investor still thinks the U.S. can pay off their debts -- no matter how big they are at the moment," Oubina said.