Do all US $100's have smudge marks on the back?
Replies: 17 - Last Post: Sep 18, 2012 8:09 PM Last Post By: midlifetravel
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Do all US $100's have smudge marks on the back?
I've started trying to buy US notes in the New Zealand, and I'm coming across something slightly odd.First, mainly on the $100's, but also on some $20's there was a slight almost smudge along the bottom of the back of the note. Its a little grey/black marks along the middle 2/3 or off the note. In the bottom margin It almost looked like ink had slightly run, or it could have been some form or water mark. I think it's a flaw because it seemed quite different on each note, but every note I examined over 3 different banks and maybe 50 odd notes, all seemed to have it.
The notes I'm most commonly getting offered is this one http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soubor:US_$100_reverse.jpg and they all had some level of smudging in that lower margin (below the green margin which I think says 100 dollars)
Also all notes in banks are folded over in 1/2 for storage, I'm assuming that as they are not actually creased I can flatten them out again under a book and they will be OK - is that reasonable?
Also I noted some $5 notes have a coloured number 5 on the back now. Have these been in common circulation for a while?
Sorry dumb questions - but I'd rather ask them now than deal with the issue in Myanmar
Edited by: midlifetravel
4
Holy cow, a 500 Euro note is going to buy a lot of Kyat notes!Things may have changed, but when I was there last year it was difficult to get a decent rate for Euro outside of Yangon. Unofficial money changers lowered their rates for smaller notes (e.g. 20 or 50) but really I think you should be OK with 100 notes - 200 and 500 might prove inconvenient.
Also the (then new) official money exchange was taking Singapore dollars, which might be another option for you
5
Yeah I'm thinking about singapore dollars - they are very, very close to par to the NZ$ so it's one less exchange rate to worry about, and they are plastic too so getting good quality should be straightforward. What's the largest kyat note in common use/given out by the banks?Wow you can get a S$10,000 note - that's about US$8,000 - might give that a miss too!
Edited by: midlifetravel
6
I can only offer that last year, the largest note I encountered was 5000K, and I met locals who had never seen one. According to Wikipedia, a 10,000K note was introduced in June 2012.Re SGD, note that only $2, $5 and $10 are plastic. And I'm not sure I would rely on being able to change SGD outside Yangon.
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Thanks #6 - I didn't know that re SGD - might stick with Euros then. Yes I was assuming I'd only be able to change in Yangon, hence the question about how bulky the local currency is.10
I very much doubt that US$ notes that haven't been through a counting machine make it to NZ! I've ordered some from the bank emphasiing NEW & PRISTINE - will see what they come back with in a few days.We are in Bangkok only over-night, less than 12 hours, and we have to swap airports. I don't really want to have to find a money changer late at night as well!
Thatnks #8, if we can change euros in both Yangon and Mandalay then we can work with that
