USD should be called Cloth currency and not paper currency
By scheng1
@scheng1 (24649)
Singapore
October 19, 2015 8:12am CST
When I do a little research on paper currency, I am quite surprised to see that paper currencies of the world are not really printed on paper.
USD is printed on a special blend of material that uses primarily cotton. The other material is linen.
The composition of the paper currency in my country is polymer. The more accurate term should be plastic money, not paper money.
There are many countries using polymer as the material for the currency.
I think sooner or later, there will not be any more paper currency.
The BEP prints billions of dollars - referred to as Federal Reserve notes - each year for delivery to the Federal Reserve System.
5 people like this
7 responses
@owlwings (43897)
• Cambridge, England
19 Oct 15
Cotton and linen are both fibres from which paper is made. It is only called cloth when the fibres are spun into thread which is then woven. US Dollars (and most UK currency notes) are printed on paper, not cloth. In the UK it's planned to issue £5 notes printed on a polymer plastic in 2016 and I believe that Canada and one Scottish bank already have certain notes printed on plastic. This will mean that notes will survive being left in a pocket of a garment that is washed but will very likely melt if they are ironed!
3 people like this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
19 Oct 15
I am not sure about polymer notes, and I have no intention to iron my $2 note just to find out the melting temperature.
I think sooner or later, many countries will use polymer notes.
It is more expensive to produce, but that cost is still lower than competing with counterfeit notes.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
20 Oct 15
Long long ago, when gold and silver were the world currency, there is no question of what money is.
Even though Chinese used paper currency long ago, the real money was still gold and silver.
I think the world should revert to gold and silver.
1 person likes this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
20 Oct 15
@scheng1 Most countries remained on the gold standard while issuing paper currency, which were simply IOUs backed by the country's gold reserves. Once the gold standard was abolished the money had no intrinsic value, which is why so many currencies fluctuate widely at times.
Here is England the banknotes always had the statement of " promise to pay the bearer on demand", but this ceased to be realistic since if you took a note to the bank they would simply swap it for another.
1 person likes this
@scheng1 (24649)
• Singapore
19 Oct 15
Yes, that is true. Polymer notes are hard to counterfeit.
When you soak in water, it becomes much cleaner than before.
I think sooner or later India and other countries are going to switch to polymer paper.
It cost more to print at first, but it lasts much longer, so in the end, the government saves money.
@softbabe44 (5815)
• Vancouver, Washington
20 Oct 15
i think that probably could be true the way things change all the time
@antonbunot (11146)
• Calgary, Alberta
20 Oct 15
A
nd our paper money here in Canada should also be called plastic currency as it is not made of paper, too.
nd our paper money here in Canada should also be called plastic currency as it is not made of paper, too.1 person likes this
@rahulvsmokiee (3110)
• Thiruvananthapuram, India
19 Oct 15
Lol! i am hearing that for the right time. here in india, i am sure that the currency is paper printed.
