Currency Bills Research Articles

Microbial Contamination and Survival Rate on Different Types of Banknotes.

In the COVID-19 pandemic context, numerous concerns have been raised regarding the hygienic status of certain objects we interact with on a daily basis, and especially cash money and their potential to harbor and transmit pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, in the present study, we analyzed different currency bills represented by British pounds (5 £, 10 £ and 20 £), Romanian lei (1 leu, 5 lei and 10 lei), U.S. dollars (1 $, 5 $ and 10 $) and Euros (5 €, 10 € and 20 €) in order to evaluate the bacterial survival rate and bacterial adherence. We used five reference microorganisms by American Type Culture Collection (ATCC, Manassas, VA, USA): Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, Escherichia coli ATCC 8739, Enterococcus sp. ATCC 19952, Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhi ATCC 6539, and Listeria monocytogenes ATCC 7644. Microorganisms were selected in accordance with the criteria of prevalence, pathogenicity, opportunism, and incidence. However, Maldi-TOF analysis from samples taken from the banknotes revealed only a few of the common pathogens that are traditionally thought to be found on banknotes. Some of the most important factors for the survival of pathogenic agents on surfaces are the presence of organic matter, temperature and humidity. Our data showed that Salmonella enterica survived 72 h on every banknote tested, while L. monocytogenes tended to improve persistence in humid conditions. Survival rate is also influenced by the substrate composition, being lower for polymer-based banknotes especially for Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes and Enterococcus sp. The adherence of bacterial strains was lower for polymer-based banknotes British pounds and Romanian Leu, in contrast to the cotton-based U.S dollars and Euro banknotes. The risk of bacterial contamination from the banknote bills is high as indicated by both a strong survival capacity and low adherence of tested bacteria with differences between the two types of materials used for the tested banknotes.

Legal Challenges to Cryptocurrency and its Guardian-Less Victims in India: A Critical Victimological Analysis

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown pushed several groups of traders to rely on cryptocurrency as one of the chosen tools for commercial transactions. India is no exception. Because of its notorious misuses by criminal gangs, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared cryptocurrency as derecognized. Consequently, the Indian parliament also created a draft bill titled Banning of Cryptocurrency & Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2019 (the Bill), which not only derecognizes the currency or the use of it for any commercial purposes, it also makes the investors, exchanges and agencies dealing with cryptocurrency criminally liable. Later, the Supreme Court of India in 2020 set aside the above-mentioned RBI guidelines banning cryptocurrency. But this has not nullified or suggested any amendment for the Bill. This article argues that due to this legal confusion, cryptocurrency investors, traders, exchanges and agencies, etc. have become guardian-less victims who may not be eligible to claim basic rights of victims as has been established by the United Nations Declaration of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power. In such a legal tangle, it is necessary to analyse the issues from cyber-victimological perspectives for providing functional suggestions for restitution of justice.

Mobile payment apps filling value gaps: Integrating consumption values with initial trust and customer involvement

This study aims to understand the consumption values that positively influence the adoption of mobile payment apps (MPAs). The theory of consumption values and two more constructs, initial trust (INT) and customer involvement (COI) are used to create a model tested using structural equation modeling with data collected from 880 Indian consumers. The results obtained from the analysis identified functional (FUV), conditional (COV), epistemic (EPV), and emotional (EMV) values having a significant positive impact on MPA adoption intention. While INT mediated all consumption values, COI positively moderated the relationship of FUV, EPV, and EMV with adoption intention. The critical contribution is using INT and COI to test the mediating and moderating effect utilizing the theory of consumption values. It explains factors contributing directly and indirectly to MPA adoption intention. The study results demonstrate that all consumption values except social value (SOV) positively influence MPA adoption intention. The cross-sectional data was collected during the pandemic from the urban population, which may not be generalizable with other developed nations. The study suggests that promoters of MPAs must focus more on FUV, COV, EPV, and EMV. Governments can promote MPAs with an increased focus on building trust through policy measures and special drives to increase trustworthiness in MPAs. Businesses could increase efforts to involve customers when introducing MPAs and collate critical information from customer touch points for improved consumer involvement. Through greater usage of MPAs, governments can substantially reduce the cost of printing and handling currency bills, saving taxpayers’ money and diverting it to social spending.

Sentiments and challenges faced with demonetisation in India

For citizens of India, it came with the sudden move of the Indian Government to demonetise 500 and 1,000-rupee currency bills during the fourth quarter of 2016. Every class in society felt the effect of demonetisation. As demonetisation took the Indian economy through a liquidity slide, so it is important to study the sentiments of the citizens towards the economic move of demonetisation by their government. Particularly, an economy like India with citizens having high cash-in-hand volumes, it is also required to study the prominent challenges that the citizens faced during the process of demonetisation. Four major challenges that were faced by the public because of demonetisation were identified using the technique of exploratory factor analysis, for which the data was collected from 300 respondents.

Automated Gadget to Descry Fiat Currency Bills with Gross Balance Updater

Tallying and assessing bills notes with precision and the high rate is a formidable crisis for banks, shops, and even customers. Formerly the appearance of cash counting devices, people used to measure money manually. This protocol was not only dreary and time-consuming but also causes many errors during evaluation. This mini-project intends to see whether appliance vision strategies can be used to comprehend and measure Indian currency bills accurately and at an increased rate. Although there are money distinction algorithms catalogued in the literature, the proposed applications operate offline with stagnant images of the bills/paper notes. In this proposed mini-project, a color sensor-based procedure for the categorization of striding paper notes/bills is examined.

Oxidative stress responses of a freshwater fish, Labeo rohita, to a xenobiotic, bisphenol S.

Bisphenol S (BPS) is an organic chemical that has been used as a substitute for bisphenol A (BPA) in making polycarbonate plastics, epoxy resins, thermal receipt papers, and currency bills, as BPA has been reported to have dreadful effects on the living system. From this view point, the present study investigates whether BPS has the same or rather more toxic effects like BPA or not. Limited studies were carried out on the effect of BPS on fish. The hepatic antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione S-transferase, glutathione reductase, and glutathione peroxidase (GPx), along with the nonenzymatic antioxidant, glutathione, in a freshwater fish, Labeo rohita, were selected as biomarkers. The results revealed that the sublethal exposure of BPS significantly influenced the activities of these biomarkers. Lipid peroxidation (LPO) products such as malondialdehyde and conjugate diene levels were also altered by the exposure. The alteration in the levels of antioxidants and LPO products after BPS exposure clearly showed that the fish experienced oxidative stress. Furthermore, the current study showed that BPS is a pollutant with oxidative potential by disrupting the antioxidant enzymes.

Cryptocurrency in India: to Ban or not to Ban

The author in this present article has tried to trace the evolution of Cryptocurrency in India. Furthermore, he analysed the Cryptocurrency jurisprudence in different jurisdictions wherein he found that some countries have banned it and some have not. He also tries to understand India's stance on Cryptocurrency and the implications of the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021 which puts a blanket ban on ‘private’ Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and introduce its own digital currency which is often termed as ‘Central Bank Digital Currency’ (‘CBDC’) like Tunisia’s eDinar (launched in 2015), or the most recent China’s digital Yuan (2020).

Money awareness among Kalinga children: An exploratory study

Objectives: The study aimed at ascertaining the awareness of money and determine whether the respondents can recognize currency coins and bills. It also seeks to identify the source of money education among children based on age and sex and identify the their buying preference with and without inducements. Finally to analyze the significant difference on the preference with and without inducements when grouped according to their profile variables. Methods/Statistical analysis : The respondents of the study are the 94 children enrolled at the Kalinga Special Education Center during the School Year 2018-2019 whose age ranges 6-7 years old. The study utilized the descriptive-comparative research design. In analyzing the data obtained statistical tools like frequency, percentage and t-test were used. The study utilized the descriptive-comparative research design. Findings: The study revealed that children recognize bills more accurately as compared to coins, and most of the children who are allowed to make purchase from the supermarket of their own choice pick nonfood item which signifies that they are unable to appreciate the value of money as also seen in their preference of the more expensive pencil over the cheaper one, provided that it is the same pencil shown in the initial experiment. Recommendation: It is recommended that educators, families and the communities teach young people the early recognition and institute a sense of obligation in money spending through Trainings on Financial Literacy and Capabilities.

Interest-parity conditions during the era of the classical gold standard (1880\u20131914)\u2014evidence from the investment demand for bills of exchange in Europe

This paper examines interest-parity conditions that arguably held as regards the investment demand for bills of exchange during the classical gold standard (1880–1914). Contemporaneous guides to the foreign exchanges report that close connections between the exchange and discount rates arose mainly with bills traded in London and the major financial centres on the European continent. As implied by the interest-parity condition, and in particular when future exchange-rate movements were covered by a suitable long-bill transaction, weekly data do suggest that between Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, and London, the return from discounting bills of exchange in the local money market was roughly equivalent to the return from investing in foreign currency bills.

Bimetallism and its Discontents

The article uses new sources to review the hypotheses that Charles V's currency bill of 1551 failed because of the electoral-Saxon resistance against the undervaluation of the taler that it stipulated, or because the emperor was too weak to overcome the estates' resistance to collective action in monetary policies. The study shows that these issues were overshadowed by the dispute about whether a bimetallic currency should be established. Charles V's currency bill failed because the Diet of Augsburg (1550–51) asked the emperor to publish it before all open issues had been resolved. This request placed the emperor in a dilemma where he had to make a decision but could not do so without antagonising important parties. It was the result of a coordination failure at the level of the Empire, which in turn was a consequence of a lack of continuity among those personnel involved in shaping monetary policies.

Power politics and princely debts: why Germany's common currency failed, 1549-56†

Using new sources, this article examines how in the years around 1550 Charles V and the imperial estates came close to creating a common currency for the Holy Roman Empire. The article analyses whose interests prevailed in the negotiations and how, despite the resistance of some important actors, the Imperial diet of 1551 was able to unanimously agree on the currency bill. It also analyses why the common currency still failed: This was the case because of the desire of many princes to ease the repayment of their debts by establishing a bimetallic currency, and even more importantly because of Charles V's attempt to weaken the Elector of Saxony by undervaluing the taler. In this, Charles exploited the diet's implicit ex-ante agreement with him to set the rates at which old money was allowed to continue in circulation. His manipulations provoked resistance, raised the costs of implementing the common currency, and caused its failure.

Synthesis of Nanosilver Particles in the Texture of Bank Notes to Produce Antibacterial Effect

Silver particles show antibacterial and antiseptic properties at the nanoscale. Such properties result from an alteration in the binding capacity of silver atoms in bits of less than 6.5[Formula: see text]nm which enables them to kill harmful organisms. Silver nanoparticles are now the most broadly used agents in the area of nanotechnology after carbon nanotubes. Given that currency bills are one of the major sources of bacterial disseminations and their contamination has recently been nominated as a critical factor in gastrointestinal infections and possibly colon cancers, here we propose a new method for producing antibacterial bank notes by using silver nanoparticles. Older bank notes are sprayed with acetone to clean the surface. The bank note is put into a petri-dish containing a solution of silver nitrate and ammonia so that it is impregnated. The bank notes are then reduced with the formaldehyde gas, which penetrates its texture and produces silver nanoparticles in the cellulose matrix. The side products of the reactions are quickly dried off and the procedure ends with the drying of the bank note. The transmission electron microscope (TEM) images confirmed the nanoscale size range for the formed particles while spectroscopy methods, such as XRD, provided proof for the metallic nature of the particles. Bacterial challenge tests then showed that no colonies of the three tested bacterium (Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa survived on the sample after a 72[Formula: see text]h incubation period. This study has provided a method for synthesizing silver NPs directly into the texture of fabrics and textiles (like that of bank notes) which can result in lower production costs, making the use of silver NPs economically beneficial. The method, specifically works on the fabric of bank notes, suggesting a method to tackle the transmission of bacteria through bank notes. Moreover, this study is a testament to the strong antibacterial nature of even low concentrations of silver NPs.

Inflation in Nigeria: Possible determinants and remedies to tackle it in Nigeria

The previous Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had intended to introduce the N5,000.00 currency bill into the Nigerian economy and claimed that such currency bill would help it manage the exchange rate especially against the dollar. This generated a huge outcry from the public especially economists. The major reason was that this introduction would generate inflation and also because the policy ran counter to the cash-less policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria. But to the Central Bank, there was no economic theory to suggest a currency redenomination could cause inflation. This debate once more threw up a need to reexamine the determinants of inflation in Nigeria. Generally, inflation could be cost push or demand pull but what drives the demand or informs cost quite often differ from one economy to another. This study examined the factors responsible for increasing cost of production and spending behaviour in Nigeria. It was able to identify 13 factors that impact on inflation. However, the degree of impact of each factor is left for another study. The study recommends that government should concentrate on providing social infrastructure that would encourage the private sector to invest and expand output, taking advantage of existing unemployed resources. This would help to stem inflation in Nigeria which is usually caused by scarcity.

The Repercussions of Realignment: United States-China Interdependence and Exchange Rate Politics

Analysts generally believe that a weaker currency primarily benefits a country's manufacturing and primary goods sectors. However, many of these industries—and the elected officials who represent them—frequently oppose legislation designed to combat the dollar's overvaluation relative to the Chinese yuan. I argue that legislators hesitate to take aggressive action on the exchange rate issue because doing so could lead to a disruption of the broader United States–China economic relationship. The threat of an economic conflict emerges as a particularly important consideration in the context of currency bills, where proposed legislation is linked to trade policy and other areas of international economic regulation. A Bayesian statistical analysis of legislative behavior on two recent exchange rate bills in the US Congress provides overall support for my hypotheses. Legislators with ties to business interests that rely heavily on the Chinese economy were more likely to oppose the bills, while the strongest support came from legislators representing import-competing domestic producers. The results highlight the ways that economic interdependence shapes bilateral exchange rate politics in particular, and United States–China interactions more generally.

A Non-destructive Bulk Currency Detection System (BCDS) for Screening Smuggled Currency

Bulk cash smuggling is a serious issue in recent years. It is estimated that $6–36B flow illegally between the United States and Mexico each year during otherwise legitimate border crossings. A nondestructive bulk currency detection system (BCDS) for screening pedestrians, vehicles and shipping containers will significantly improve boarder security, protect domestic economics and deter criminal and terrorist activity. However, such a practical device is not yet available because neither the target detection technique nor the instrumentation has been defined. In this paper, we evaluated the currency characteristics that provide a basis for detection, relevant physical/chemical instrumental approaches, and a rationale for selection of an approach to build a practical BCDS. US currency releases volatile compounds. These emissions can be used as a chemical signature in currency detection. The literature regarding characterization of volatile compounds associated with US currency is limited. To identify the unique vapor signature of US currency, we analyzed VOC emission from currency bills using thermal desorption GC/MS. This enabled calculation of emission rates of volatile compounds. The results were consistent with prior studies of currency emissions. From our data and the literature, a tentative fingerprint that represents currency can be selected from among the complex background present in real currency. The analysis shows that a most-likely US currency vapor signature contains a specific set of volatiles at low concentrations. A successful practical BCDS based on volatiles must be able to accurately identify and quantify a speciated set of trace chemicals from a complex and highly variable matrix. Variations of GC/MS with SPME preconcentration can result in near-term methods. Future developments are needed to address optimization of methodology and meet the need for rapid sampling, detection with speciation. Sensor arrays can also provide a platform for currency detection and would improve logistics over larger instruments.

Concentrations and composition profiles of parabens in currency bills and paper products including sanitary wipes

Parabens (alkyl esters of p-hydroxybenzoic acid) are widely used as antimicrobial preservatives in personal care products, pharmaceuticals, and foodstuffs. Although parabens have been reported to be used as antimicrobials in certain types of papers (e.g., wet sanitary or hygiene wipes), little is known about the occurrence of these compounds in paper products. In this study, we determined the concentrations of six paraben analogs, methyl (MeP), ethyl (EtP), propyl (PrP), butyl (BuP), benzyl (BzP), and heptyl parabens (HepP), in 253 paper products divided into 18 categories, using liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). At least one of the six parabens was detected in almost all (detection rate: 98%) paper samples, and the total concentrations (∑PBs; sum of six parabens) ranged from 1.85 to 3,220,000ng/g (geometric mean (GM): 103; median: 55.1ng/g). Sanitary wipes contained very high concentrations of ∑PBs (GM: 8300ng/g). Paper currencies, tickets, business cards, food cartons, flyers, and newspapers contained notable concentrations of ∑PBs, and the GM concentrations in these paper categories were on the order of a few tens to thousands of nanograms per gram. One source of parabens in paper products is the use of these chemicals as antifungal agents. MeP and PrP were the predominant analogs, accounting for approximately 62% and 16% of the total concentrations of parabens, respectively. On the basis of measured concentrations and frequency of handling of paper products, we estimated the daily intake (EDI) of parabens through dermal absorption. The GM and 95th percentile EDI values were 6.31 and 2050ng/day, respectively, for the general population. Among the paper categories analyzed, sanitary wipes contributed to the majority (>90%) of the exposures.

Bisphenol S, a New Bisphenol Analogue, in Paper Products and Currency Bills and Its Association with Bisphenol A Residues

As the evidence of the toxic effects of bisphenol A (BPA) grows, its application in commercial products is gradually being replaced with other related compounds, such as bisphenol S (BPS). Nevertheless, very little is known about the occurrence of BPS in the environment. In this study, BPS was analyzed in 16 types of paper and paper products (n = 268), including thermal receipts, paper currencies, flyers, magazines, newspapers, food contact papers, airplane luggage tags, printing paper, kitchen rolls (i.e., paper towels), and toilet paper. All thermal receipt paper samples (n = 111) contained BPS at concentrations ranging from 0.0000138 to 22.0 mg/g (geometric mean: 0.181 mg/g). The overall mean concentrations of BPS in thermal receipt papers were similar to the concentrations reported earlier for BPA in the same set of samples. A significant negative correlation existed between BPS and BPA concentrations in thermal receipt paper samples (r = -0.55, p < 0.0001). BPS was detected in 87% of currency bill samples (n = 52) from 21 countries, at concentrations ranging from below the limit of quantification (LOQ) to 6.26 μg/g (geometric mean: 0.029 μg/g). BPS also was found in 14 other paper product types (n = 105), at concentrations ranging from <LOQ to 8.38 μg/g (geometric mean: 0.0036 μg/g; detection rate: 52%). The estimated daily intake (EDI) of BPS, through dermal absorption via handling of papers and currency bills, was estimated on the basis of concentrations and frequencies of the handling of papers by humans. The median and 95th percentile EDI values, respectively, were 4.18 and 11.0 ng/kg body weight (bw)/day for the general population and 312 and 821 ng/kg bw/day for occupationally exposed individuals. Among the paper types analyzed, thermal receipt papers were found to be the major sources of human exposure to BPS (>88%). To our knowledge, this is the first report on the occurrence of BPS in paper products and currency bills.

Nanoscale Shuffling in a Template-Assisted Self-Assembly of Binary Colloidal Particles

We have fabricated a square lattice array of sub-micrometer fluorescent (red and green) polystyrene particles. The particles were each embedded into small pits fabricated on a silicon substrate by electron beam lithography, through the drying process of an aqueous suspension containing equal amounts of the two species. We indexed 0 and 1 for each red and green particle, respectively, and then obtained a one-dimensional bit sequence by the successive reading of the indices in a predetermined manner. We evaluated the randomness of the bit sequence by using the improved FIPS 140-2 statistical test suite. Consequently, we found that the bit sequences do not have any non-randomness. The particle array was obtained by a very simple process, i.e., the drying of a suspension, but the particle distribution pattern was definitely unpredictable and irreproducible, and the number of possible patterns was tremendously large. The signal--i.e., the color of the particle--does not deteriorate within a practical timescale under various conditions, such as in an electric field, in a magnetic field, in air or water, on a solid matrix, and so on, which means that a small tip with the particle pattern can be installed in miscellaneous object, including electronic products, plastic credit cards, currency bills, and so on. Therefore, this particle array is applicable to a nanoscale identification tag or a one-time pad encryption tip.

Keynes and the Non-neutrality of Russian War Finance during World War One

This article examines the particular methods of war finance that were used by Russia during World War One in relation to the total cost of the war, and evaluates them against a theoretical ideal that was outlined by the Cambridge economist J. M. Keynes. It then asks whether there were any consequences of two particular chosen means of financing the war—the issue of large amounts of paper currency and short-term treasury bills—for maintaining Russian economic stability. The evaluations of a number of Russian and British economists are used as gauges of Keynes's advice, and also as more general comparison in relation to the equivalent policies pursued by other Allied countries.

Ultrasonic imaging using air-coupled P(VDF/TrFE) transducers at 2 MHz

A reflection non-contact ultrasonic microscope system working both in amplitude and phase difference modes at 2 MHz has been developed using an air-coupled concave transducer made of piezoelectric polymer films of poly(vinylidene fluoride/trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF/TrFE)]. The transducer is composed of three 95 μm-thick P(VDF/TrFE) films stacked together, each of which is activated electrically in parallel by a driving source. The transducer has a wide aperture angle of 140° and a focal length of 10 mm. The measured two-way transducer insertion loss is 80 dB at 1.83 MHz. Despite 20 dB higher insertion loss than that estimated from Mason’s equivalent circuit, we have obtained clear amplitude acoustic images of a coin with transverse resolution of 150 μm, and clear phase difference acoustic images of the rough surface of a paper currency bill with depth resolution of sub-micrometer. Using two planar transducers of P(VDF/TrFE), we have also successfully measured in through-transmission mode the sound velocity and absorption of a 3 mm-thick silicone-rubber plate. The present study proves that, owing to its low acoustic impedance and flexibility, P(VDF/TrFE) piezoelectric film is very useful for high frequency acoustic imaging in air in the MHz range.