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Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

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Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#21

Post by rswskg »

incone123 wrote: post #12
papito wrote: post #7

I asked at a bank recently for 100 $2 bills (I needed it for tipping on a cruise ship). The tellers were extremely curious about what it was for. I got 100 still-bundled bills, like in crime movies!

If this isn't something tellers see quite regularly, then what do other cruise passengers do? I asked for a lot of £5 (smallest denomination note in UK) at the bank once because I was going to a music festival (before mobile card payment was routine). They asked me casually why I wanted them and I explained. Seems to be a Know Your Customer thing.

For a period I was withdrawing 5k cash weekly. I was required to wait for 20 minutes each time and give a reason why. I settled on 'money fight' as it seemed to upset them the most.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#22

Post by rajamaka »

nestorD wrote: post #11
implements wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it’s a neat idea, but … what do you do with them? Framing one as a picture would seem to invite a burglary, and as a source of individual notes it’s much cheaper to go to a bank. Edit: Not intended as a critical question, btw - I was just wondering how you’d use them.

You don't use them as money but they have consecutive serial numbers which has uses...

What uses?

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#23

Post by shaky-carrousel »

implements wrote: post #9
haunter wrote: post #2

You can still buy uncut sheets https://catalog.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/

I mean, it’s a neat idea, but … what do you do with them? Framing one as a picture would seem to invite a burglary, and as a source of individual notes it’s much cheaper to go to a bank. Edit: Not intended as a critical question, btw - I was just wondering how you’d use them.

No sane burglar would see a framed sheet of bills and think "yeah, that surely is a totally legit uncut sheet of bills".

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#24

Post by alpaca128 »

dsq wrote: post #10

Was Wozniak already “the Woz” of Apple fame when this story took place? In which case I assume he could afford the best lawyers on the planet if necessary, plus the President calling to get him out of trouble. An ordinary civilian might fall down that hole never to come out again. Just showing a fake ID to a fed could be met with serious retribution.

I'm pretty sure Wozniak didn't yet have a 12 year old daughter before Apple.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#26

Post by adastra22 »

implements wrote: post #9
haunter wrote: post #2

You can still buy uncut sheets https://catalog.usmint.gov/paper-currency/uncut-currency/

I mean, it’s a neat idea, but … what do you do with them? Framing one as a picture would seem to invite a burglary, and as a source of individual notes it’s much cheaper to go to a bank. Edit: Not intended as a critical question, btw - I was just wondering how you’d use them.

wallpaper?

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#27

Post by basementcat »

neilv wrote: post #18
implements wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, it’s a neat idea, but … what do you do with them? Framing one as a picture would seem to invite a burglary, and as a source of individual notes it’s much cheaper to go to a bank. Edit: Not intended as a critical question, btw - I was just wondering how you’d use them.

The hundreds could be Sweet 16 birthday gift wrap for the keys to a Lamborghini.

Initially I misparsed your message and imagined gift wrapping the car with SWEET16 source code.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/SWEET16

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#28

Post by tbarone »

dsq wrote: post #10

Was Wozniak already “the Woz” of Apple fame when this story took place? In which case I assume he could afford the best lawyers on the planet if necessary, plus the President calling to get him out of trouble. An ordinary civilian might fall down that hole never to come out again. Just showing a fake ID to a fed could be met with serious retribution.

That was the most surprising thing to me by far.

Dangerous game to play, imagine trying to convince a judge that "I was not intentionally looking for trouble".

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#29

Post by ChuckNorris89 »

tbarone wrote: post #28
dsq wrote: post #10

Was Wozniak already “the Woz” of Apple fame when this story took place? In which case I assume he could afford the best lawyers on the planet if necessary, plus the President calling to get him out of trouble. An ordinary civilian might fall down that hole never to come out again. Just showing a fake ID to a fed could be met with serious retribution.

That was the most surprising thing to me by far. Dangerous game to play, imagine trying to convince a judge that "I was not intentionally looking for trouble".

Yeah, no government likes it when you mess with their currency.

Re: Steve Wozniak used to tip from printed sheets of $2 bills

#30

Post by PaulRobinson »

incone123 wrote: post #12
papito wrote: post #7

I asked at a bank recently for 100 $2 bills (I needed it for tipping on a cruise ship). The tellers were extremely curious about what it was for. I got 100 still-bundled bills, like in crime movies!

If this isn't something tellers see quite regularly, then what do other cruise passengers do? I asked for a lot of £5 (smallest denomination note in UK) at the bank once because I was going to a music festival (before mobile card payment was routine). They asked me casually why I wanted them and I explained. Seems to be a Know Your Customer thing.

If they can't just give you the money they have on hand (perhaps deposited by other customers), you are increasing the cost of the transaction for them. Cash is expensive. People complain about card transactions, but wait until you need to deal with cash deposits and withdrawals regularly - that adds up quick, and is the main reason why a lot of businesses in the UK have moved to card only since the pandemic.

It's also the case that criminals prefer cash, and a large number of small denomination notes could be used to facilitate a large number of small value crimes more easily.

Drug dealing is the obvious one, but there are others. I witnessed a shoplifters being stopped by a security guard once, with £200 worth of goods in their coat (booze, steaks), and they offered a £5 note - "it's all I have" - and by making that offer of payment, they reduced the crime and the penalty somewhat to the point the manager and security officer removed the goods, asked them to leave and told them they weren't welcome any more - no police involved. For all that bank knew, you were running a gang of shoplifters doing this.

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