Why is there nothing bigger than a $20?
Ermita_Nights
Michigan
I'm strictly a cash kind of guy, especially in the club. With inflation these days, I don't even like to leave the house with less than $500 in my pocket. As this is a pretty big wad of twenties, I prefer to carry fifties and hundreds.
But anything bigger than a twenty is hard to find around here. The ATM doesn't dispense them, and banks for some reason don't want to give them out unless you're a customer and have ID.
This makes no sense. In Europe the ATMs give out 50 euro notes, and spending a 100 euro note is no problem. Even in Mexico, the ATMs give out 500 and 1000 peso notes, which is $40 or $80. And they are accepted everywhere. Here in the US, it can be hard to get change for a hundred anywhere except a strip club.
So what's going on? If I were a paranoid cynic I might suspect the government wants us to only use credit cards, so they can track our financial transactions. Thank God I live in the US, where the government isn't allowed to spy on its citizens.
But anything bigger than a twenty is hard to find around here. The ATM doesn't dispense them, and banks for some reason don't want to give them out unless you're a customer and have ID.
This makes no sense. In Europe the ATMs give out 50 euro notes, and spending a 100 euro note is no problem. Even in Mexico, the ATMs give out 500 and 1000 peso notes, which is $40 or $80. And they are accepted everywhere. Here in the US, it can be hard to get change for a hundred anywhere except a strip club.
So what's going on? If I were a paranoid cynic I might suspect the government wants us to only use credit cards, so they can track our financial transactions. Thank God I live in the US, where the government isn't allowed to spy on its citizens.
27 comments
As for the clubs, I never carry anything larger than a $20 and the buldge from $500 worth of 20's is not that uncomfortable.
I NEVER have a problem getting $50 or $100 bills from a bank that I have an account with.
We're just not a cash society anymore. The banks and CC companies prefer the money is sitting with them and not in your pocket. Also cuts down on employee theft (at the lower levels) and makes keeping track of money a whole lot easier.
Additionally in the past American currency was ridiculously easy to counterfeit and we are really still behind the rest of the West in fixing that problem.
I don't know the current largest denomination note circulating in a respected currency. ChF500? 500Euro? Is there a ChF1000?.....I have never seen one, just the 500.
It's easier to design European ATMs to give out the different Euro bills because the bills are different sizes. The 100 > 50 > 20 > 10 > 5. You don't have to worry that the service man will accidentally put 100 Euro bills in the 5 Euro slot.
I think you are right about the ChF1000. I have heard talk of them, just never seen one.
At Royal or TD machines in Canada you will receive 50s if you withdraw more than $200. Remember that the red C$50 is worth MORE than a Grant.
I once hit the Pick 6 at Stampede Park in Calgary and walked out of the track carrying $45K in thousand dollar bills burning a hole in my pocket. I felt much more of a 'player' that day than I did when I carried a nine figure cheque to the bank upon the sale of my company.
Another thing that makes me feel even more of a 'player' is to hit my stash of gold coins periodically and feel the erotic power of five 9 pure gold coins trickle through my fingers.
You'd like GA some years ago. I stopped at an ATM early in the AM to get some cash before I arrived at a hotel in FL. Their ATM gave out cash in increments of $1.
Euro is a respected currency? :-)