Cash? Crooks? Dope?

[mickeyd]

I caught the tail end of an interview on CNBC about an hour ago on the show "Street Signs".

The conversation was about how much currency was in circulation in the US and EU in denonionations that are not popular. Here are are a few nuggets:

~70% of US currency is in $100 bills.
~15% of US curreccy is in $20 bills
~33% of EU currency is in 500 Euro bills

The statement was made that a $500 Euro note is rarely seen in Europe. If so, where is all of this cash?

I thought about my own experience with currency, and I can not remember that last time I held a $100 bill in my hand, though my bank account seldom falls below $1000. Who is using/hording these $100 bills? I just do not deal in currency over $20 denominations.

Who has this kind of cash? Drug dealers? Arms dealers? Gamblers? ER's?

 

[Zathras]

Casinos and banks

 

[Nords]

Who has this kind of cash? Drug dealers? Arms dealers? Gamblers? ER's?

Try Grandma and all those other aging parents who grew up during the Depression.

I have several elderly relatives who still don't trust banks and keep a few hundreds hidden around the house for "emergencies".  It worries me to think about the thorough search we'll have to do when they reach their inevitable demise.  They could probably teach the dealers a trick or two about hiding places...

 

[brewer12345]

My dad is a self employed person who sells jewelry. It is an almost all-cash business.

 

[d]

Who has this kind of cash? Drug dealers?

i'll bet so.  you'd also likely find a lot of them floating around outside the u.s. ... the dollar is still a good way to hold money in many parts of the world, ie better than holding local currency.

 

[mickeyd]

It worries me to think about the thorough search we'll have to do when they reach their inevitable demise.

Maybe this is why a local lawyer told me that every last will and testament should include a hammer and crow-bar for each relative so that they can tear into grandma's house walls...

 

[Arif]

I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of those euros were held by our gov't. When I was in the Army and deployed in eastern Europe we paid 90% of our bills in cash. So if a cash control office has a couple million in the vault and 90% of his business is with vendors who don't have bank account then you pay him in cash. Multiply that scenario by a few dozen larger locations and it adds up to some serious money.

 

[slepyhed]

I recently sold a small sailboat and the guy gave me some $100 bills in payment. A few days later I rolled the bills up, stuffed them in my pocket and drove my POS beater civic to the bank to deposit the cash. Halfway there, I realized that if I got pulled over, the police would probably confiscate my money and put me in jail - because everyone knows that only drug dealers drive crappy cars and carry $100 bills.

 

[thefed]

In my days of illegal activities, 20's took up the majority of my bankroll However I'd ofter turn them in for 100's to save room...

I bet old people have them all....depression era

 

[Hamlet]

Gamblers.

I used to play poker at stakes that had me carrying about $1500 in cash much of the time.  I think that at my peak I had about $6500 in hundreds hidden in my bible 

A trip to Vegas solved my problem of having so much cash in hand 

 

[Andre1969]

My grandmother has macular degeneration and can't see very well, although she can tell the difference between a $20 bill and a $50 bill and a $100 bill.   I usually go to the bank for her to get her spending money for the grocery store and whatever else she might need.  Even though she can still tell the difference, I always worry about her accidentally giving a $50 or $100 to someone when she thinks it's just a $20, so I try to make sure that she has nothing larger than $20 bills.

And yeah, old people do hide money in the strangest places.  Granddad died in 1990 and had stashed some money in places that Grandmom didn't know about.  When she had new carpet put in her bedroom a few years later, one of the workers found an envelope with $500 in it under the old carpet and gave it to her.  I just thank God that there are still honest people out there!  Or at least, there were back in the early 90's!  

Fortunately though, Grandma does keep most of her money in the bank or invested.  I do know most of her hiding places in the house, but it's not like she keeps a king's ransom in there.  I'm sure though, that Granddad might have a few other hiding places we don't know about.

Personally I don't like having anything larger than a $20 on me.  I'm probably behind the times here, but once upon a time it wasn't worthwhile to counterfeit anything smaller than a $50.  So usually the counterfeit bills were bigger bills, like $50's and $100's.  I'm sure that these days though, they counterfeit anything!  Still, I'm not knowledgeable enough to spot a counterfeit bill (unless it's glaringly obvious, like somebody running them off on a photocopier), so I figure I'd rather get stuck with a bogus $20 than a bogus $100!  Unless I got duped and stuck with 5 bogus $20's at the same time!

 

[brewer12345]

I think that when I have to settle up my parents' estate, I will have a very interesting time trying to find all the assets. Safe deposit boxes, CDS they have forgotten about, stuff in the safe (more like a vault) and Gawd knows what else.

 

[REWahoo]

A few years ago my now 87 year old FIL told me if anything ever happened to him, don’t sell his house unless I’ve thoroughly searched his attic and dug up the floor in his tool shed.

Based on the little grin on his face at the time, I’m beginning to suspect he just wants the last laugh of me crawling around on my stomach in his tiny attic and rubbing a few blisters digging up his shed floor searching for a coffee can full of pennies.

 

[rs0460a]

While reading some of these "related topics" (i.e. "how much do you keep in checking"), I must say that I carry much more cash than I did when I was not FI (e.g. "young").

Why?  Because I could not in the past (I didn't have it).  Not to "show off", but just to have a "stash" that I could use, if need be.

A few years ago, my DW/me went to NYC on a Wednesday to see a show.  Of those that know of the Tic kit’s counter (reduced price on late booking), they only operate a "only cash" basis.  Since my wife only carries a credit card, and she was unaware that they did not accept them, it could have been an "embarrassing" situation (since they refused her credit card).  However, I was able to pull four $100 bills from my wallet and paid for the tickets (she was mad that I carried that much cash, but would have been more upset if she could not get the show tickets).

If I would loose my wallet tomorrow, I would not worry about it.  The few hundred I keep with me is just "satisfaction" that I (and my DW) struggled for many years to become FI.  I don't "waste it", but it is there if we need it (besides, the “real money is in our investment accounts  )...

- Ron

 

[haha]

She was mad that I carried that much cash, but would have been more upset if she could not get the show tickets.

I don't even know your wife, but somehow this sounds familiar.

Ha

 

[donheff]

I'm probably behind the times here, but once upon a time it wasn't worthwhile to counterfeit anything smaller than a $50. So usually the counterfeit bills were bigger bills, like $50's and $100's.

I remember hearing that $20s are the most frequently counterfeited bills because they are so easy to pass. People will study a $50 or $100 but barely look at a $20.

 

[AltaRed]

Rarely saw a $50 or $100 bill while working in USA except when I sold a vehicle for $1500 cash. More common to see C$50's in Canada, but rarely see C$100 bills. Personally, I like to keep about $40-50 in my wallet at any given time and thus prefer 20's/10's/5's. When I get down to $20, I top it back up again.

 

[Brat]

My aged MIL started withdrawing cash (using a teller) when she couldn't see well enough to write a check or sign a credit card voucher.  The bank alerted DH (who was exercising the POA and paying her bills), he told them not to worry so long as she didn't withdraw more than about $50/wk. When he emptied her apartment he found money hidden all over the place. 

A bank branch with nosy tellers near a retirement residence is a blessing.

 

[wabmester]

~70% of US currency is in $100 bills.
~15% of US curreccy is in $20 bills

According to this testimony:

$1s through $20s account for about 85 percent of the production of the BEP and over 90 percent of the Federal Reserve's processing.

So, domestically we use smaller demoninations.

But....

As I mentioned earlier, approximately two-thirds of U.S. currency is held internationally, but about three-quarters of the $100 notes in circulation are held overseas. Foreigners use high-denomination U.S. banknotes primarily for savings, but we also find that countries with transitioning economic and political environments use U.S. currency as a medium of exchange.

So, there's your answer: foreigners.

 

[kramer]

In my younger years, before I went to college, I was a professional gambler. All I carried were $100 bills plus some change. This was the medium of exchange. $20's were just too heavy and bulky. And this was before ATM machines, etc., so had to keep a lot around. Plus, ATM limits would have been too low, anyway. And there has probably been close to a halving of currency value since then due to inflation.

I had a friend who one day hit about a $90K payoff. He insisted that they pay him in cash. Later, I asked him what he did with it. He said he took it home and rolled around naked in it.

Kramer 8)

 

[wabmester]

I had a friend who one day hit about a $90K payoff.  He insisted that they pay him in cash.  Later, I asked him what he did with it.  He said he took it home and rolled around naked in it.

The most recent WSOP payout was $12 million. You could do a lot of rolling around with that kind of win.

 

[kramer]

Apparently, each bill weighs about 1/490 of a pound. This would mean that (in 100s) $90K weighs 1.83 pounds, 1 million dollars weighs 20.4 pounds, and 12 million dollars weighs 245 pounds. Might need some help with that last one . . . 8) 8)

If you want it in 20's, multiply each of these weights by 5.

Kramer

 

[GMueller]

One million dollars = 40 inch stack of 100 dollar bills. See how it was calculated:

http://www.cockeyed.com/inside/million/million.html

 

[jclarksnakes]

....If you want to see a bunch of $100 bills just go to a big reptile show. At the Daytona show which is the biggest in the country I often have sales of over 5 grand and I take nothing but cash. I try to change as much of it to hundreds as possible so that it is easier to handle. I have seen people carrying as much as 40K in cash, mostly hundreds at that show. I suspect that there are similar situations at other types of "trade shows".
....The local banks get held up pretty regularly but I have heard that the grocery stores often have more cash on hand than any of the banks have out at the teller windows. Any business that does much business with the poor is gonna have lots of cash rather than the checks and CC receipts that are commonly used in businesses that cater to the more financially able.
....I feel naked if I am carrying less than $150 in cash.
jc

 

[tryan]

Couple tenants pay in 100's ... tough to count $1200 in 20's. Come to think of it ... most of my tenants over the last 17 years did not have checking accounts.

Took thier paystubs to the bank and walked with cash.