BURNING MONEY

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 490, 27 June 1932, Page 7

BURNING MONEY

Incinerator Claims Old Worn Banknotes. Thousands of pounds’ worth of banknotes are each year burned in Christchurch, just as similar amounts are burned in other centres of New Zealand. As soon as a number of old, torn and defaced notes have been collected, they are withdrawn from circulation, cancelled with a rubber stamp, cut up and-then taken to an incinerator and destroyed. The destroyed notes are replaced by a new issue, and so the cycle goes on. In Auckland last week banknotes representing £60,000 went up in smoke To spend that sum in a year would involve an average daily expenditure of £164. The same thing happens at regular intervals in all the main centres of New Zealand, the only exception is that Australian banknotes are sent to Australia to be burned there. Soiled, torn or old notes are intercepted by the bank teller as they pass over the counter. The teller places the notes on one side, and when sufficient have accumulated they are taken away to the destructor. Banknotes are notorious as carriers of disease germs, and in the event of an epidemic, the banks see to it that the notes are disinfected regularly so as to avoid carrying infection. Many people prefer to make assurance doubly sure by disinfecting the notes themselves.. Others, owing to the hard times, have no such risk to worry about.