Friday, August 10, 2007

10 Useless Facts about the US Dollar

I was perusing website for the US Department of The Treasury and stumbled on the website for the US Bureau of Engraving, which I found quite interesting. Amaze you friends! Impress your banker! Become a fascinating conversationalist with these 10 Useless Facts about the United States Dollar:

1. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions.

2. Several countries use the U.S. dollar as their official currency, many others use it in a de facto capacity.

3. In 1995, over US $380 billion were in circulation, two-thirds of which was outside the United States. By 2005, that figure had doubled to nearly $760 billion, with an estimated half to two-thirds being held overseas.

4. If you had 10 billion $1 notes and spent one every second of every day, it would require 317 years for you to go broke.

5. 95% of the notes printed each year are used to replace notes already in, or taken out of circulation. During 2006, 55% of the notes printed were $1 notes.

6. Currency paper is composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton. Red and blue synthetic fibers of various lengths are distributed evenly throughout the paper. Prior to World War I the fibers were made of silk.

7. It takes appriximately 4,000 double folds (first forward and then backwards) before a US note will tear.

8. The average life span of a US note varies by denomination:
Life Span
$1 = 21 months


$5 = 16 months

$10 = 18 months

$20 = 24 months

$50 = 55 months

$100 = 89 months

9. A stack of currency one mile high would contain over 14½ million notes. I think I'll start working on trying to build that stack...

10. One million dollars in $1 bills weighs 2,040 pounds, so if you ever need to move your cash, plan on renting a U-Haul.

Happy Friday to everyone, see you tomorrow for The Saturday Seven!

-Rick Rockhill

9 comments:

Lola Starr said...

Wow. That's a lot of info on the dollar bill. I love random bits of knowledge. Happy Friday! :)

Empress Bee (of the high sea) said...

have a great weekend rick and thanks for the $ facts!

smiles, bee

Anonymous said...

If only I had to worry about how much $1 million weighs! fun post rick. have a great weekend.

captain corky said...

All this talk of money makes me wish I had some...

I need a drink!

SIMON said...

I discovered in a chat box last night that there is no £ sign on US keyboards but we have $, that's another piece of trivia to do with the $
Nice one Rick!

Mx said...

I once had a boyfriend that could fold a dollar bill into a bowtie. He saved up all his bowties to buy me a watch... (refer to your post of embarassing moments) :)

Burfica said...

and both shields on the back are shields of the free masons. hehehehe

Seeeee... I know useless crap too. lmao

A Lewis said...

Have you ever been to the US Mint where they print? I tried, but they closed them to the public after 9/11. Watched a few shows on the Discovery Channel....amazing stuff!

Steven said...

Fun facts on worn out George. In regards to #9, I'll start my pile with Franklins. ;-)

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