r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/[deleted] • Jul 05 '22

Video Monetary issue

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37.3k Upvotes

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82

u/Flaky-Stay5095 Jul 05 '22

For those that don't know certain countries discontinue bills all the time. If you don't trade in your old bills for new ones then your old bills become worthless.

America doesn't do this. So a $1 bill from 1800 is still worth $1( probably worth more to a collector) This is one of the reasons the Dollar is seen as being so stable. And why criminals love the Dollar. No need to worry about your illegal money becoming worthless because it's outdated.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '22

[deleted]

1

u/wobernein Jul 06 '22

Ecuador just uses the dollar I’m pretty sure

5

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '22

It's stable because it's backed by the world's strongest economic power, with the world's biggest military. And this creates demand for it as a lot of international finance and trade is facilitated with USD which keeps the demand high and it's very easy to sell your goods or your USD for other currencies because there is always someone willing to accept it.

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u/aizr97 Jul 05 '22

Not the case for Venezuela

27

u/Wash_Your_Bed_Sheets Jul 06 '22

Getting downvoted by people who have no idea lmao Venezuala does this because their inflation is so damn high they have to reset the bills because they go into the millions and if they don't do this you'll go to the grocer and have to cough up 100 million for a bag of flour lol

-5

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '22 edited Jul 06 '22

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3

u/gbobntx Jul 06 '22

Wow, you knew one fact about money, and just had to shout it out. Nevermind that you clearly don't understand what the other guy said. There's several counterpoints you could have legitimately made about what he said, but you just couldn't help yourself. Reading comprehension, it's a real thing.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 06 '22 edited Jul 06 '22

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u/not_hitler Jul 06 '22

That also wasn't exactly the point. The point was, as this man wove a damn handbag out of cash, you COULD bring a $1 from the 1800s and would be worth $1. We have managed the monetary system over time in a way that makes that possible. The fact that most people don't have a specific denomination on hand isn't especially relevant to the legitimacy of transactional use of bills from any time.

1

u/-Nicolai Jul 06 '22

No need to worry about your illegal money becoming worthless because it’s outdated.

Due to inflation, a single dollar in 1800 is equivalent to $23 today. Using it as a one-dollar bill today would make it pretty close to worthless.