OT: Making Money

[KenTheDude]

I was watching a show the other night called "How It's Made" and they focused on money - specifically Australian money. I did not know that Australian money is printed on plastic. It's as thin as paper but it's a sheet of plastic. For the Australian folks on here, how long has this practice been used? They said it's very hard to fake because of all the anti-counterfeiting measures put into it, specifically a see-through "window" with logo.

A U.S. dollar bill has a life expectancy of 1 year to 18 months. $5 = 2 years, $10 = 3 years, $20 = 4 to 5 years and $50 & $100 = 9 years.

They said the Australian plastic bills can last forever and since they switched to plastic there has not been a case of counterfeiting yet. Also, no worries when you forget to remove your wallet when jumping into a pool or accidentally washing clothes with money in them.

[jrnyman28]

Just don't leave your money in your pocket when doing laundry...the dryer could melt it!

[Arianddu]

I was watching a show the other night called "How It's Made" and they focused on money - specifically Australian money. I did not know that Australian money is printed on plastic. It's as thin as paper but it's a sheet of plastic. For the Australian folks on here, how long has this practice been used? They said it's very hard to fake because of all the anti-counterfeiting measures put into it, specifically a see-through "window" with logo.

A U.S. dollar bill has a life expectancy of 1 year to 18 months. $5 = 2 years, $10 = 3 years, $20 = 4 to 5 years and $50 & $100 = 9 years.

They said the Australian plastic bills can last forever and since they switched to plastic there has not been a case of counterfeiting yet. Also, no worries when you forget to remove your wallet when jumping into a pool or accidentally washing clothes with money in them.

They were introduced in 1988, our Bicentennial year, initially as a kind of commemoration but were so good that we changed over completely in 1992. Because of how succesful they have been, Australia actually mints currency for several Pacific nations.

Not only is our money printed on plastic, but each denomination is a different colour, and a different size (so the blind can tell them apart). US currency gave me a hell of a time - all the notes looked the same unless I looked closely, and it took me for ever to work out which was 5c and which was 10c, because even on the coins it said 'nickel' and 'dime' and not the amount! Your number brackets don't make much sense to me either: Australian currency comes in denominations based on 1, 2 and 5, so you can give the maximum amount with the smallest physical money. Although we no longer have one and two cent coins; it goes 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100.

The notes will melt under extreme heat, but they tend to shrink in a very specific way (if any of you ever made 'shrinkies' from crisp/chip packets, you'll know what I mean). From my own experience, they'll survive a hot wash easily, shouldn't have any issues with a dryer (if it's hot enough to melt them, it's dangerously hot for the clothes and a fire risk) but they don't survive ironing. The way they melt is also part of the anti-counterfeiting measures, as damaged notes will be replaced by the banks. There's a specific way they warp when they melt that is very distinctive.

There's pictures of them here, if you're interested (current currency is at the bottom) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Australian_dollar

[artist4perry]

I was watching a show the other night called "How It's Made" and they focused on money - specifically Australian money. I did not know that Australian money is printed on plastic. It's as thin as paper but it's a sheet of plastic. For the Australian folks on here, how long has this practice been used? They said it's very hard to fake because of all the anti-counterfeiting measures put into it, specifically a see-through "window" with logo.

A U.S. dollar bill has a life expectancy of 1 year to 18 months. $5 = 2 years, $10 = 3 years, $20 = 4 to 5 years and $50 & $100 = 9 years.

They said the Australian plastic bills can last forever and since they switched to plastic there has not been a case of counterfeiting yet. Also, no worries when you forget to remove your wallet when jumping into a pool or accidentally washing clothes with money in them.

They were introduced in 1988, our Bicentennial year, initially as a kind of commemoration but were so good that we changed over completely in 1992. Because of how succesful they have been, Australia actually mints currency for several Pacific nations.

Not only is our money printed on plastic, but each denomination is a different colour, and a different size (so the blind can tell them apart). US currency gave me a hell of a time - all the notes looked the same unless I looked closely, and it took me for ever to work out which was 5c and which was 10c, because even on the coins it said 'nickel' and 'dime' and not the amount! Your number brackets don't make much sense to me either: Australian currency comes in denominations based on 1, 2 and 5, so you can give the maximum amount with the smallest physical money. Although we no longer have one and two cent coins; it goes 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100.

The notes will melt under extreme heat, but they tend to shrink in a very specific way (if any of you ever made 'shrinkies' from crisp/chip packets, you'll know what I mean). From my own experience, they'll survive a hot wash easily, shouldn't have any issues with a dryer (if it's hot enough to melt them, it's dangerously hot for the clothes and a fire risk) but they don't survive ironing. The way they melt is also part of the anti-counterfeiting measures, as damaged notes will be replaced by the banks. There's a specific way they warp when they melt that is very distinctive.

There's pictures of them here, if you're interested (current currency is at the bottom) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_the_Australian_dollar

So when they say paper or plastic they mean literallly? Neat!

[Andrew]

They said the Australian plastic bills can last forever and since they switched to plastic there has not been a case of counterfeiting yet. Also, no worries when you forget to remove your wallet when jumping into a pool or accidentally washing clothes with money in them.

Yeah, I love showing Americans and see the look on their face when they try and rip it. An Aussie invention that is now used in New Zealand and Singapore to name a couple of countries that have adopted it. I like my paper money, but you can't agrue the economics of how long these notes last.

[Don]

I learned something new. I didn't know the Japanese had created individual currencies for all the countries they planned to invade.