[nfb-talk] paper money -- did anyone hear about this?

[T. Joseph Carter]

Rick E Morin wrote:
> If Europe can unite multiple countries to a common currency, the US can
> certainly deal with the logistics.

That's not the issue here.  First, they didn't simply print new money.
They introduced an entire new currency.  The old currency is not the same
as the new.  And while the exchange rate was fixed, it's like changing
United States and Canadian dollars.

The Euro is not the same as a Franc, for example.  Whereas in the United
States, an old dollar and a new dollar would be the same and carry the
same value.  Only once all of the old dollars (and all denominations of
paper currency, for that matter) were taken out of circulation would the
currency be truly accessible.  If the US were to try and do that, old
currency would become a collector's item.

Secondly, the transition to the Euro did not happen over a few years.  It
began on July 1st, 1990.  It was completed on January 1, 2002, and not
without some hiccups along the line.  There are still Francs, Marks, and
other pre-transition currencies out there.  The EU can insist that if you
want to spend these things, you must take them to a bank to be converted.
That is not possible with the dollar.

In fact, if you had US money from before the size was reduced to what it
is today, you could still spend it for face value.  You'd be an idiot, but
you could do it.  *grin*