Crossposted from https://lemmy.one/comment/283051:
Does anyone else think it’s a little backwards that the large denominations are fragile paper bills, but the small ones are metal coins sometimes worth less than the metal in the coin? Shouldn’t the large denominations be coins, which last longer, and the small denominations be bills, which are easier to carry in large quantities?
In HongKong, and I’m sure in some other places, paper currency is actually made of bearer bonds:
Note (see what I did) the small text of “Promises to pay the bearer on demand at its office here”, that’s when/where the bank gives you coins, or their Monopoly looking-ass 10 dollar bill, issued by the government.