Collectibles

The Voice of Cash

11.06.2011
Thumbnail image for The Voice of Cash

What do grey squirrels and cashless payments have in common? Admittedly, the link isn’t obvious. The grey squirrel, classified as vermin in Northern Europe because it is decimating the population of the native, cute and fluffy red squirrel, is referred to by many as ‘a tree rat with good PR’. The connection is the power of PR (public relations) to generate a message that favours your subject, be it a grey squirrel or the cashless industry.

Read the full article →

Virtual Currency – The Dark Side

07.28.2011
Thumbnail image for Virtual Currency – The Dark Side

Regular readers of Counting On Currency will know that I am committed to the future of hard currency. This does not mean however, that I am not interested in virtual currency. One particular form of virtual currency that has my attention is BitCoin.

Read the full article →

Is That Google In Your Wallet?

05.30.2011
Thumbnail image for Is That Google In Your Wallet?

May 26th, 2011 marked the start of a new venture for Google. Actually, today;s announcement was about the merger of two new Google ventures – Google Wallet and Google Offers. The search engine giant is now poised to become a major player in the mobile payments arena, with the added value of combining a mobile payments platform with easy and instant coupon redemption.

Read the full article →

Rare Currency?

04.04.2011
Thumbnail image for Rare Currency?

Who knew that Antarctica actually has it’s own currency. I have never seen or heard of this before. Now I am on the hunt for my own notes from the very frozen, southernmost continent. I can only wonder how many places there are to spend it?

Read the full article →

The BitCoin Project

03.30.2011
Thumbnail image for The BitCoin Project

Every once in a while a new idea comes along that simply stops me in my tracks and makes me think. I enjoy these moment because they are few, far between and almost always leave me enriched in some way – simply by gaining knowledge of a new concept or idea, having a misconception corrected or, in the rarest of examples, having a total philosophical epiphany. I can’t say that the BitCoin Project qualifies as an epiphany, but it comes close.

Read the full article →

2010 IACA Currency Awards

07.01.2010
Thumbnail image for 2010 IACA Currency Awards

A new family of banknotes from Scotland’s Clydesdale Bank was one of the outstanding winners at the International Association of Currency Affairs’ (IACA) Excellence in Currency Awards, sponsored by ‘Currency News’. A high calibre of entries and some very close voting in several categories marked this year’s awards – the third event – the presentation of which took place during the gala dinner on May 12 at the Currency Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Read the full article →

The ATM Machine of John Shepherd Barron

06.01.2010
Thumbnail image for The ATM Machine of John Shepherd Barron

Those of us in the Cash handling business owe this man a debt of gratitude – without his having invented the ATM many of us would not be needed because cash would be less available…

Read the full article →

You Learn Something New Every Day – Fractional Currency

04.14.2010

Did you know that during the American Civil War and for a few years after, the United States issued paper currency in lieu of coins? According to rebelstatescurrency.com, the 5, 10, 25, and 50 cent notes were issued due to a coin shortage.

Read the full article →

Happy Birthday to Us!

04.09.2010
Thumbnail image for Happy Birthday to Us!

Today marks the first anniversary of the re-launch of Counting On Currency! We are particularly proud of the loyalty our small but dedicated readership has shown to this humble on-line publication. We are currently reaching over 4,000 unique readers in 108 counties who have amassed well over 35,000 page views in the past 12 months.

Read the full article →

It Just Feels Funny

03.05.2010
Thumbnail image for It Just Feels Funny

Having been involved in the currency handling business for many years and having experience in many countries means that I have had the opportunity to handle many different kinds of “paper” money. I placed the word paper in parentheses for a reason, because in today’s world not all currency is made of paper. Australia started the trend away from paper/cotton based currency a few years ago. They were followed by Mexico and a handful of other countries. Now Canada is joining the ranks.

Read the full article →

Is Cash Becoming Obsolete?

01.20.2010
Thumbnail image for Is Cash Becoming Obsolete?

I have always been a bit of a Luddite when it comes to the prevalence of cash as the favoured payment medium for most common “everyday” transactions. It is simple, inexpensive and anonymous. For these reasons and others I have always maintained that cash will remain king at least through my lifetime. However, the presenter of this speech Mr. Douglas Rushkoff makes some very interesting observations about the origins of cash…

Read the full article →

authenticating currency with numbers

08.07.2009

In a past life I worked for one of the premier currency sorter manufacturers, which is primarily where I cut my teeth in this business. One of the things that impressed me then (and still does now) is the technology that goes into authenticating currency. One technology in particular that I saw as revolutionary was the ability to read the serial number of a note as it flew down a track on a sorter at something like 30 feet per second. The system not only reads the serial number but can compare it to a known database of “authentic” notes and “tracked” notes (the latter having been identified as used in criminal activity).

Read the full article →

reduce, reuse and recycle!

07.07.2009

We have all heard the litany of requests from governments, eco-agencies and individuals as they call for the mobilization of the individual to assist in making the planet a healthier place to live. So how does this apply to the currency management supply chain? Interesting question – and one that (surprisingly) has an answer.

Read the full article →

to tweet or not to tweet?

06.04.2009

I am at the point of screaming UNCLE! I can not believe the number of friends and associates who, once they discover I have a blog, want to know if I use Twitter. Many of them can’t even begin to describe what Twitter is, beyond something their children use. Equally I can not ignore the overwhelming advice I receive in blog related “help” publications to integrate with Twitter.

Read the full article →

a song for our times…

05.17.2009

Sometimes you stumble across something so touching or moving or inspirational that you have to pass it along to your neighbor… in this case it came to me from my neighbor… in this case, it is all three – touching, moving and inspirational

Read the full article →

a blast from my blogging past -when is a banknote the same as a tire?

05.11.2009

And the answer is…? When a cash vault is the same as an auto manufacturing plant! OK, Henny Youngman I’m not, but the way I see it is that there is a growing quiet revolution going on in the global cash vault industry. Paper, pencils, note and coin counters spreadsheets, manual GL’s , etc. are being replaced by increasingly complex and pervasive vault management software applications, up-stream and down-stream data integrations, intelligent and multi functional high and mid-speed note and coin sorters and discriminators, auto-generated reporting and datafile transfers and so on.

Read the full article →

economic recovery – the neighborly way!

05.04.2009

Many years ago I worked in the broadcasting industry, spanning media to include both radio and television. A good friend of mine was and is the sole regional source for a smokin’ hot local market retail promotion call the 69 cent dollar. The basic concept is that a group of local retailers sells scrip in the form of a copyright protected scrip ($.069 cent dollar) for which they pay $0.69 but which is worth a full dollar at any participating retailer. In this case a focused marketing effort with creative use of radio, television and/or other guerilla media opportunities. The 69 Cent Dollar promotion is wildly successful in the right kind of market and yet sometimes delivers less benefit than expected in others. There is much science, with liberal doses of marketing voodoo that can be used to define a good target city from a bad one.

Therefore, in the category of “I’ve now almost seen it all” comes a story first passed to me by a mentoring muse and thought-provoking bon-vivant at “big-bank”. Given my past experience I can tell you with some modest amount of confidence that this “promotion” is hardly that and yet has a huge amount of potential for short-term benefit to certain communities that are faced with sector-related economic strife.

Read the full article →

virtual currency – second life and the linden dollar debate

04.29.2009

We all live in a world where hard currency is a basic necessity, notwithstanding the attempts by many alternate payment forms to displace it’s pervasive use. What I find truly fascinating however is the growing on-line use of virtual money. I am sure that most of you are familiar with PayPal as one of the [...]

Read the full article →

world currency – how about linden dollars?

04.22.2009

North America has seen its fair share of debate and argument over the years on the subject of a harmonized currency. I have yet to find anyone other than an economist that is for that idea. So much of a nations identity is defined in the color, size and design of their currency that I can’t imagine any country voluntarily disposing of their notes and coins. Until the Euro came along. Next to the US, I expected Europeans love affairs with their scrip to be so zealous that they would never consider a change – but switch they did, with only the mildest public objections.

Read the full article →

ATM Industry History | Diebold celebrates 150th anniversary this week | ATM Marketplace

04.15.2009

Fresh from my friends at ATM Marketplace comes this nifty bit of birthday celebration with some entertaining video – it’s just that I know some folks at De La Rue who might debate the whole “we invented the ATM” issue…

Happy Birthday to you, Diebold!

Diebold celebrates 150th anniversary this week

• 14 Apr 2009
NORTH CANTON, Ohio — This week, Diebold Inc. will celebrate its 150th anniversary, tracing its history from ATMs to bank vaults and bank safes.

As the company reflects, it’s pulled together some interviews from former employees, as well as photographs of products and offerings of the past.

Read the full article →

who can afford to do this in today’s world?

04.14.2009

 Man arrested for throwing money around - iol.co.za   April 13 2009 at 02:32PM Taipei – Taiwanese police have arrested a man for throwing banknotes from a taxi on the highway.    Chen Ping-teng, 43, was arrested after he tossed 1&nbsol000 Taiwanese dollar (US$30) notes from the window of a taxi on a highway in central Taiwan. The taxi [...]

Read the full article →

Could Retail “Cash Back” Scheme Be The End of Retail Bank Deposits?

04.12.2009

cashback For quite a few years I have been enjoying the benefits of retailers offering “cash-back” whenever I use my debit card. The benefits to the consumer are obvious as it reduces the number of times I need to visit an ATM machine on a monthly basis. I am sure that the concept of cash-back is [...]

Read the full article →

printing for hyperinflation

04.11.2009

HARARE – Reserve Bank governor, Gideon Gono has admitted the central bank money printing machines have become overwhelmed by the persistent demand for new bank notes.
Gono said Fidelity Printers, government’s minting company, can only churn out two million notes per day and was thus unable to print lower denomination notes, which are in short supply in Zimbabwe.

Read the full article →

Bermuda Sun – on-line

04.11.2009

Our new ‘sideways’ currency is a real head turner!

Read the full article →

Hello currency world!

04.09.2009

Hello Faithful Readers. If you found this site, then you have been curious about my next move after almost a year of silence. Figuratively speaking I have been with monks in Cupertino studying the sacred blogging arts, under a vow of silence and non-publishing. Contrary to common myth I do not receive any remuneration in [...]

Read the full article →