“Men make counterfeit money; in many more cases, money makes counterfeit men.” - The Friar

- Counterfeiting wasn’t outlawed in the United States until 1877, when the Congress then passed a bill to forbid faking the production of coins and bars.

- After the Civil War a third to a half of all notes in circulation were estimated to be fakes.

- The Treasury are enhancing the US bills design every 7-10 years, this started with the $20 dollar bill in 2003.

- The US dollar bills have magnetic ink on them, this is how the vending machines are able to read which bill is which, since it can’t decide this on size.

- Altering a coin is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and/or a fine of $2000.

- Counterfeiting is a felony and are punishable by up to 15 years in prison and up to a fine of $15,000.

- Anybody counterfeiting US currency abroad is subject to the same prosecution as if they were in the US.

- Coins have edges because people used to clip or shave of the edges of gold and silver coins.

‘Bankers, their just too many jokes about you!’ - The Friar
A young banker decided to get his first tailor made suit. So he went to the finest tailor in town and got measured for a suit. A week later he went in for his first fitting. He put on the suit and he looked stunning, he felt that in this suit he can do business.

As he was preening himself in front of the mirror he reached down to put his hands in the pockets and to his surprise he noticed that there were no pockets. He mentioned this to the tailor who asked him, “Didn’t you tell me you were a banker?”

The young man answered, “Yes, I did.”

To this the tailor said, “Who ever heard of a banker with his hands in his own pockets?”

‘Uncertainty has now hit Japan’s banks hard.’ - The Friar

In the last seven days, Origami bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up and Bonsai Bank has announced plans to cut some of its branches. Yesterday, it was also announced that Karaoke Bank will go up for sale and will likely go for a song, while shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended today after they nose-dived. While Samurai Bank is soldiering on after sharp cutbacks, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank, where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

‘Damn…where’s my forklift?’ - The Friar

It’s the sort of question that would keep you up at night, ‘how many pallets would I need to transfer my $1 billion bucks down to the bank?’

Well….so long as you have it in crisp $100 dollar bills, the answer is 12!

So Barack Obama will need 9840 pallets for his economic stimulus package.