4 ms·
Even a subset of merchants is enough to produce an effect. I've been to a few countries in which many merchants will accept USD but only notes in good conditio
by aeternum 5y ago
Even a subset of merchants is enough to produce an effect. I've been to a few countries in which many merchants will accept USD but only notes in good condition as the banks give them a hard time if the bills are torn or marked up. Some merchants would trade the marked up/torn USD at a discount to face value while others would simply refuse to accept those bills.
The interesting thing was how quickly I too considered the torn bills less valuable even though I could easily take them back to the US where they were completely fungible.
- notch656a 5y agoSounds like a good opportunity for someone to buy up bills from these money changers at a discount and then perform some international arbitrage.
- notahacker 5y agoEven as someone who once got asked to name my own exchange rate if I could swap rupees for some British currency the local kids had begged for their "coin collection", I don't think there's much profit in moving damaged banknotes from Myanmar to the US (or even Cambodia)! Damaged dollars naturally find their way into the hands of tourists who won't have difficulty spending or exchanging them when they leave the country
- notch656a 5y agoMake sense. My anecdotal experience in third world money changing is the banks are most strict. The gray-market exchangers are a little more liberal and then private to private transaction is the most liberal. Paraguayan banks straight up refuse to take certain year of $100 notes because they were burned by some forger years ago, so they just black-list entire series of notes no matter how crisp and authentic they are.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- pessimizer 5y agoI think one of the steps in that arbitrage would require carrying suitcases full of cash over a border, which may not be so easy. Small-scale "I'll take that filthy $5 for change rather than those three pristine $1s" seems like what's probably actually happening.
- sokoloff 5y agoSwitzerland banks and merchants have refused several of my US bills that were in quite good (but still imperfect) condition.