Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Money Odour

 Give each bank note denomination an individual scent.
  (+4, -2)
(+4, -2) 		  [vote for,
against]

I'm aware that blind people have come up with ways to distinguish a five from a one hundred dollar note. Some fold their notes in special ways, while others store them in seperate areas of their wallet or purse, and I'm sure there's many more. Still, I think they have to rely too heavily on the honesty of others.

Unless you happen to be blind and anosmic, or blind with a cold, or blind and have just accidently snorted some chilli, I think smell is a great way to differentiate between things that are otherwise very similar to touch. You could, of course, use braille on the notes, but I don't think it would last very long in polymer challenged countries. Yes, you know who I'm referring to.

I may come across as an empathic, thoughtful human being, but this simply isn't true. The real reason I came up with this idea is because smelling money in the dark is a secret passion of mine.

—RoboBust, Sep 11 2003

German euros 'full of cocaine' http://news.bbc.co..../europe/3021194.stm
Almost all euro banknotes circulating in Germany contain traces of cocaine, German researchers say. [Brummo, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]

Money Laundering Money_20Laundering_20machine
Keep that currency clean! [csea, Nov 30 2006]


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Annotation:







       I read that as "Monkey Odour". But the money thing is cool too...
—DeathNinja, Sep 11 2003
   

       the only problem i see with this is that banknotes might not smell too nice after spending some time in the trouser pocket of a fat gentleman who's just been running for a bus. perhaps some sort of slow-release scent? (+)
—rodti, Sep 11 2003
   

       How do you stop the smells from transferring to notes of other denominations when folded up in a wallet?
—squeak, Sep 11 2003
   

       Mmkay, so DeathNinja wants his currency to reek of monkey, and trashcanglam has voted for sweaty fat gentleman smell. Excellent.   

       [squeak] I suppose microencapsulation would be the way to go. I didn't really think about it, but I guess this would have the added bonus of being another anti counterfeit measure.
—RoboBust, Sep 11 2003
   

       Scratch and sniff bucks? Dunno. Have you SEEN some of the bills floating around these days? Seems like a bad trick to make blind people hold them to their faces.
—k_sra, Sep 11 2003
   

       <Robert Duvall> "I love the smell of fifties in the morning..."</Robert Duvall>
—Cedar Park, Sep 14 2003
   

       No shit, DN. I thought it was Monkey Odor too.   

       "Monkey Odor. Would that be perfume for monkeys? Or perfume OF monkeys? 'Odur de Baboon Butt.' Would I buy it? Would my GIRLFRIEND buy it? Would I buy it for my girlfriend, for purposes of hot monkey love? Would she buy me saying that this turns me on?"   

       These are some of the thoughts that DID NOT go through my mind as I considered what an idea titled "Monkey Odor" could possibly be.
—Eugene, Sep 14 2003
   

       Hey, now there's an idea [renboga]! How I love the smell of money.
—RoboBust, Sep 14 2003
   

       I love the smell of new money as it is, and frankly old money stinks, so no thanks.
—DrCurry, Sep 17 2003
   

       hmm, scratch and sniff monkey odour. reminds me of a video clip i once saw..
—stilgar, Jul 06 2004
   

       How about scratch and sniff? For reasons [UnaBubba] stated in his idea above ..   

       //Money stinks, unless it's brand new. This is because it collects dirt and sweat and drug residues and beer and vomit//   

       .. it'd be better to actually have to activate the smell somehow, scratching it to release a scent would be appropriate.
—kuupuuluu, Apr 28 2006
   

       I saw today that the US Gov't has been found to be discriminating against the blind in that there is no way for a blind person to distinguish the value of the notes.
I knew there would be some ideas on the halfbakery about this.
—Zimmy, Nov 29 2006
   

       Maybe it could be an electric or heat activated odour and you would use a key chain fob device to activate it.
—pydor, Nov 30 2006
   

       Hurrah for the Blind! With their lawsuit they have rectified the last thing to piss me off about American money. When I arrived I was overjoyed to have access to $1 bills but pissed that the size and colour of the notes were the same. Anti-counterfeiting measures have added colour and now the blind have a pretty good chance of making the notes different sizes! The best of English and American money combined. Bone for the mint if they use raised numbers instead though.
—stilgar, Nov 30 2006
   

       why not have brail money.   

       note are differnt sizes anyways so they'd be able to tell the difference. but it would be nice to smell wealthy! bun from me!
—balloon, Nov 30 2006
   

       For reasons of counterfeit avoidance, the different smells should be both unusual, hard to replicate, and very long lasting.   

       I know a certain gentleman with poor hygene that could provide some fine examples of not so pleasant potential money odors.   

       Or we could look into synthetic esters.
—ye_river_xiv, Dec 19 2006
   


 

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