[QUOTE=only_human;240536][URL]http://www.cnbc.com/id/40521684/[/URL]

[quote]Useless Money
An unknown production glitch has caused roughly $100 billion worth of new, high-tech bills to be completely useless.[/quote][/QUOTE]That quote isn't from the article you linked (unless CNBC changed their online text since you quoted it). Where is it from?

[quote=CNBC]A second person familiar with the situation said that at the height of the problem, as many as 30 percent of the bills rolling off the printing press included the flaw[/quote]So, they're at least 70 percent usable, not "completely useless" as the unknown source said. It's just that the unusable ones have to be identified (which might require a very careful scan) and taken out.

[quote=CNBC]"A very high proportion of the notes will be fit for circulation," said Darlene Anderson of the Treasury Department.[/quote]

[QUOTE=cheesehead;240876]So, they're at least 70 percent usable, not "completely useless" as the unknown source said. It's just that the unusable ones have to be identified (which might require a very careful scan) and taken out.[/QUOTE] Sounds like there may have been some rushing to print to get the scoop, but now it does look like "only" 30% may be unusable. The thing to remember is that that is 30% of [B]1 billion[/B] bills. According to this [URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/printing-error-produces-a-billion-unusable-100-bills-2154917.html"]story[/URL] if they can't figure out a way to automate it, every bill will have to be examined by hand, which will take 20-30 years(!?!)

[size="1"]Although it would only take until 2012(!) to do it with autmatic equipment....[/size]

That brings up the question: would there be any way to speed that up? I guess it depends on how the paper creased. Seems to me if the paper creased across the whole width of the sheet, couldn't they just figure out how to check bills in a strip across each sheet and maybe shave 10% or 20% off the time needed to examine everything?

[QUOTE=schickel;240878]
[SIZE=1]Although it would only take until 2012(!) to do it with autmatic equipment....[/SIZE]

That brings up the question: would there be any way to speed that up? I guess it depends on how the paper creased. Seems to me if the paper creased across the whole width of the sheet, couldn't they just figure out how to check bills in a strip across each sheet and maybe shave 10% or 20% off the time needed to examine everything?[/QUOTE]Automated scanning could do it, I'd think.

If only one strip of bills was defective, I presume they'd release the undamaged strips, once cut.

[QUOTE=schickel;240878]Sounds like there may have been some rushing to print to get the scoop, but now it does look like "only" 30% may be unusable. The thing to remember is that that is 30% of [B]1 billion[/B] bills. According to this [URL="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/printing-error-produces-a-billion-unusable-100-bills-2154917.html"]story[/URL] if they can't figure out a way to automate it, every bill will have to be examined by hand, which will take 20-30 years(!?!)

[SIZE=1]Although it would only take until 2012(!) to do it with autmatic equipment....[/SIZE]

That brings up the question: would there be any way to speed that up? I guess it depends on how the paper creased. Seems to me if the paper creased across the whole width of the sheet, couldn't they just figure out how to check bills in a strip across each sheet and maybe shave 10% or 20% off the time needed to examine everything?[/QUOTE]
Heck, what I'd do is just send out the bills, creases and all. Sure, they're not quite perfect, but it's merely a cosmetic flaw; they're still just as much legal tender and (AFAIK) none of the anti-counterfeiting measures are compromised by the defect. What's a little embarrassing [I]faux pas[/I] for the Fed if it means saving the taxpayers $$$? :smile:

(Sure, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the national debt at large, but I would think the PR effect of convinving the American people that the government is actually serious about cutting costs to be worth it...)

[QUOTE=cheesehead;240876]That quote isn't from the article you linked (unless CNBC changed their online text since you quoted it). Where is it from?[/QUOTE]
The quote was a straight cut and paste from CNBC's site. I was reading this page: [url]http://www.cnbc.com/id/40235938[/url] "GM's IPO Likely to Price at $33 a Share, Top of Range" one minute before I read the money article. I think the quoted comment was in the highlights jump section beneath the GM article. It's not there now though.

[QUOTE=mdettweiler;240887]Heck, what I'd do is just send out the bills, creases and all. Sure, they're not quite perfect, but it's merely a cosmetic flaw; they're still just as much legal tender and (AFAIK) none of the anti-counterfeiting measures are compromised by the defect. What's a little embarrassing [I]faux pas[/I] for the Fed if it means saving the taxpayers $$$? :smile:

(Sure, it's a drop in the bucket compared to the national debt at large, but I would think the PR effect of convinving the American people that the government is actually serious about cutting costs to be worth it...)[/QUOTE]I would do that too. Not only is it nothing serious in my mind, they might become collector items, a voluntary tax paid by the squirrels that pack them away.

[QUOTE=only_human;240890]I would do that too. Not only is it nothing serious in my mind, they might become collector items, a voluntary tax paid by the squirrels that pack them away.[/QUOTE]
Hmm, I hadn't thought of that...now that you meantion it, that's a great idea. I imagine the Fed could turn quite a success if they promoted it that way...plus a "side" profit from selling the usual collector's kits for the special issue (like they did for the state quarters and Presidential dollar coins). :smile: I'd probably buy one...

[QUOTE=cheesehead;240886]Automated scanning could do it, I'd think.

If only one strip of bills was defective, I presume they'd release the undamaged strips, once cut.[/QUOTE]I think the problem is that the bills have to be pulled flat to see the ink voids.

They also don't say whether the bills have been cut and strapped yet, but I imagine that if they have been, it becomes that much harder to do it automatically. It really depends on how much pressure has to be applied to each bill to lay it flat to check and how hard it would be to recognize the viods.

I have seen stories in the past about money production and the point was made that they do a visual check of sheets of bills as they come out of the printer, so if it was just a quick "look at both sides to make sure they're inked", I imagine that something that seriously crimped the bills might be easy to miss....

I also remember a story from 8 or 10 years ago about someone who got a $20 from an ATM that was blank on one side. IIRC, the customer took it in the bank and got another one. Someone from the bank apparently got a collector to pay $300 for it. The story went on to relate that since bills are printed in sheets of 32, it was probably worth more in the neighborhood of $50. Still a nice return; I can't believe the customer didn't hold onto it....

[QUOTE=mdettweiler;240892]Hmm, I hadn't thought of that...now that you meantion it, that's a great idea. I imagine the Fed could turn quite a success if they promoted it that way...plus a "side" profit from selling the usual collector's kits for the special issue (like they did for the state quarters and Presidential dollar coins). :smile: I'd probably buy one...[/QUOTE]Well, if the articles are correct, there are 30% of 1 billion bills that are bad. That means ~300 million, almost enough for everyone in the USA. I guess they'd have to set a limit of 2 sets per customer, supplies are limited, operators are standing by...oops, sorry got caught up in the flow of words.

I guess the worry is that some of the security features are the missing elements. I assume that they're worried that someone might be able to fake the easy parts of the bill....

I think the real problem is that a huge amount of US currency circulates outside of the US (IIRC, something like 60-70%); good luck convincing the locals that the bills that look like a horrible counterfeit copy are actually genuine.

Home used as bomb factory:

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