Not all money is as cool and sleek-looking as American money. I mean have you ever been to Canada? (Just kidding… sort of).
What’s even stranger than American or Canada money are these 25 crazily designed currencies from around the world. I’d love to know who thought it would be a good idea to mint these. Just wait until you see #13.
1. Zimbabwe – A Trillion Dollar Bill.
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Yes the Simpsons were right, a trillion dollar bill exists, just not in the United States. We can thank hyper inflation for this one.
2. Germany – Wooden Money.
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After WWI Germany was in a deep financial crisis that caused mass hyper inflation. In response some people began printing their own money.
3. Cook Island – Bizarree Scenes.
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The Cook Islands printed up a series of notes all featuring different, exotic scenes from Polynesian culture.
4. Fiji – Silver Meteorite Coin.
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This 2012 coin contains actual pieces of a meteor that fell in Germany in 2002. Not sure why that makes any sense for Fiji to have on their money.
5. Republic of Palau – Holy Coin.
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This coin contains a tiny bit of holy water from Lourdes in southern France.
6. Republic of Palau – Pearl Coin.
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These coins actually contain a green freshwater pearl in them.
7. Belarus – Animal Money.
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Instead of putting historical figures or politicians on their, Belarus decided to put furry adorable animals on its money instead.
8. Easter Island – Pop-Up Coin.
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The Easter Island Heads feature prominently onto the country’s currency. These coins in particular feature the heads, and they pop up.
9. Tristan da Cunha – Concorde Coin.
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This coin contains just a tiny bit of the Conrode’s heat shield.
10. China – Oldest Paper Money.
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The Chinese used paper money long before the Europeans. This note here dates back to 1380.
11. Benin – Marijuana Money.
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This 100 Franc coin is ordinary except for the bright green marijuana leaf on the back.
12. Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of Congo) – Punched Out Bills.
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When Joseph Mobutu was overthrown in 1997, instead of printing new money, the government just reused the old ones with Mobutu’s face punched out.
13. Mongolia – Talking Money.
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Sometimes money does literally talk, like these Mongolian coins featuring JFK. When pressed the coin played part of JFK’s “Ich bin ein Berliner” speech.
14. Northern Ireland – George Best 5 Pound Note.
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This note commemorates the Manchester United soccer player George Best, but the artwork here is far from the best.
15. Philippines – Big Money.
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This 100,000 Peso note holds the record for being the biggest bill still in circulation.
16. Ivory Coast – A Coin With Real Mammoth.
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Inside each of these coins in a small piece of a mammoth.
17. Nazi Germany – Concentration Camp Money.
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These were never actually used at concentration camps. The Nazis only created them to show to inspectors from the Red Cross.
18. Indonesia – 20,000 Rupiah Bill.
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We have high inflation to thank for this one. Also maybe they could have chosen a better picture for the former minister of education and culture, Ki Hadjar Dewantara.
19. Zambia – Silver Proof Coin.
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This bizarre coin has a full once of silver it in. The shape is a weird combination of Austraila and Zambia.
20. Thailand – Square Money.
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For those times when rectangles just aren’t doing it for you. This square bank note is one of the largest pieces of money ever produced.
21. Russia – Parchment Money.
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This money was issued by a Russian-American trading company back in the early to mid 1800’s. It was used at Russia’s American colony.
22. Thailand – Queen’s Birthday Celebration.
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To celebrate the queen’s 72nd birthday the Thai government issued these 100-Baht notes. Umm. Yeah not very artistic.
23. Hungary – 100-Million-Billion Pengo Note.
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Hyperinflation is responsible for this absurdly huge note from 1946. It was only worth about 20 American cents.
24. Yugoslavia – 500,000,000,000-Dinara Bill.
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Another example of rapid hyperinflation.
25. Germany – Emergency Money
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This 50-Pfenning note was a piece of emergency money. Pretty creepy, right? Emergency money was always produced locally and often depicted different scenes from folklore.
(Via: List 25)
Wow I seriously can’t believe Benin would be a marijuana leaf on their money. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall for the meeting where that was decided.
