As I write this, I'm on vacation. It's Summertime and the living is easy. 'Tis the season to do a little travel and spend some time in the great outdoors! OK, OK. Who am I fooling? Many of you are probably like the me. You take vacation time to catch up on all of the chores that have fallen WAY behind during the rest of the year. But even though I'm not traveling or spending much time outside, I still enjoy my vacation time because it's satisfying to catch up a little on all of those tasks in arrears. And during vacation I can usually find a little extra time to spend with my family. That's the nicest part for me.

As many numismatists know, years ago when circulating coinage reentered the federal system, the government washed those coins before releasing them back into circulation. This was done for quite a period of time - as I recall, in the latter 1800s and early 1900s - primarily in the Eastern United States. Why? The reasoning was twofold. Coins which had circulated were physically dirty. The ladies in the Eastern states were hesitant to handle the dirty money. And many proper women wore white gloves which dirty coins would soil. But the primary reason was due to the correct belief that circulated coins were covered with germs. So a little sanitizing was thought to help keep disease in check.

But did you know that money laundering still occurs today? No, no ... I'm talking about *legal* money laundering. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) regularly washes newly made pieces of currency to test durability. The staff chemists take freshly printed currency and literally run it through the wash. After waiting a few days for the ink on the notes to cure, they place them into standard washing machines along with other items of cloth or clothing, add detergent and sometimes bleach, run them through the normal cycle, and then evaluate those notes for circulation acceptability. They also soak some of the new notes, sometimes for several days, in various chemicals and solvents to determine the affects.

As well, BEP staff physicists perform stress tests on new notes. The primary physical tests are fold and crush tests to determine the durability of the paper and ink. If the paper unfolds acceptably and the ink hasn't flaked away too badly, the notes pass. On average, how many times do you think you can fold a note before it tears at that crease? A note may be folded about 8,000 times before the pieces will separate - 4,000 times each forward and backwards.

Whenever tested notes flunk any of these tests, the batch from which they came is evaluated overall to determine whether the print run will be destroyed or be released for circulation. Thankfully for us taxpayers, a batch of new notes is rarely ever destroyed. The scientists who work for the BEP apparently have their acts together, collectively causing the production of United States currency to be reasonably durable and resilient with few errors in that regard.

Speaking of durability, just how long, on average, do the various denominations of United States currency remain in circulation before they're pulled and destroyed due to wear and tear? We're talking about six denominations, the one dollar note, the five, the ten, the twenty, the fifty and the hundred. Do you think you know the answers? Well, then, jot your answers down before you look. You may be a bit surprised. The answers can be found HERE.

A few words about the WINS Auction ... From a courtesy perspective, auction participants are reminded that international transactions regularly occur. Sometimes the processing of foreign checks or money orders is costly. Buyers are encouraged to coordinate with sellers to ensure that funds are sent in a fashion that's not financially burdensome to the recipient. PayPal in various currencies may work well for some. Others may prefer international money orders. The recipient should be able to inform you about the best way to send payments. Please remember to ask before you send the funds.

Please remember to check out our next WINS Auction. It begins at 7:00 PM Mountain Standard Time, Saturday, August 7th and runs for seven days and can be viewed: HERE. Our last auction was a resounding success. There were 99 lots and many bids. So dig out those extra or unwanted coins, tokens and currency and send the information to the Auctioneer before August 6th. Lets make Auction #23 another banner event. It's fun and potentially profitable.

Best Regards,

Ralph J. Huntzinger
WINS President

NB: The coins and currency portion of this article was derived from a combination of my knowledge and from technical information acquired from the Columbus, Ohio Dispatch and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Web Site.