MONEY MAKES THE WORLD GO
’ROUND
America has the dirtiest money (literally), Britian has the oldest, and in-between
that are 178 other currencies spread across the globe. Here are a few weird and
wonderful facts about that cash in your travel wallet.
90%
N
OF DOLLAR BILLS IN
THE UNITED STATES
ARE CONTAMINATED WITH COCAINE
And it’s not only Americans snorting through
banknotes: in the UK researchers suggest it
only takes a few weeks for most new bills to
be tainted with the drug.
G
DIN
ID
O K
UP TO
25,000
BACTERIA FORMING UNITS
ARE ON ANY ONE DOLLAR BILL
The US dollar is the dirtiest paper currency around due
to it being printed from a cotton-linen blend rather than a
slippery, bacteria-resistant synthetic polymer like Canada,
New Zealand or Australia’s currencies. This is the finding
of Australian researchers from the University of Ballarat,
who collected and tested more than 1 250 banknotes from
around the globe.
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Just a few slang terms for money
that have emerged over the years.
DIGITAL
MONEY
PHYSICAL
CASH
92%
OF THE WORLD’S CASH
DOES NOT EXIST
It’s true: only about 8% of the world’s
cash is banknotes and coins; the rest
exists in electronic form. So maybe
Bitcoin’s not that weird…
14 // MAKE MEMORIES FOR LIFE
BANKNOTES AREN’T VEGAN
The synthetic polymer notes you’ll
find in Canada, Australia and the UK
may be slightly cleaner than their
cotton-linen blend counterparts,
but they’re not vegan-friendly. The
manufacturer for these currencies
has admitted there are “miniscule”
traces of meat in their money – a
fat called beef tallow is used in the
manufacturing process.