$3 trillion in bonds could be fake

Police in the Philippines have found a chest in a banana grove that contains $3 trillion in Federal reserve notes and certificates. However, they're warning that the notes could be counterfeit. From Cebu Daily News:
The chest which is 27.3 inches long, 10 inches wide and 14.4 inches in height has the markings of Federal Reserve Bank, Cleveland,Ohio, series of 1934. Total Face Value: three trillion USA.” On top of the markings was an engraved seal of the United States. The opened compartments contained seven film clichés, 12 bank certificates, 12 redemption act certificates, 12 treasury certificates, 12 inventory lists, 12 gold reserve act certificates, 11 insurance certificates and 12 gold bullion certificates. The fourth compartment contained 200 pieces of US federal bond interest coupons, with each coupon stating it was worth $1 billion.

I like the fact that the police are only willing to say that it "could" be counterfeit. Apparently they're not sure yet, despite the grammatical errors on the certificates and the lack of an embossed seal on the documents.

With $3 trillion you could buy an entire country somewhere. But where would you cash the certificates?

Business/Finance

Posted on Tue Oct 16, 2007


Comments

Must be authentic. All the bonds over 100 million had typos prior to 1940.
Posted by wdl  on  Tue Oct 16, 2007  at  08:25 PM
What were the film cliches? That is what I find interesting here. That Hollywood would store cliches in an old trunk like that.
Posted by Christopher Cole  on  Thu Oct 18, 2007  at  11:00 AM
I'm thinking, some of the film cliches included:

the final scene where the protagonist wakes up and it was all a dream,

the hero defuses the time bomb with one second left on the clock,

the startling swell of music when someone opens a door in a horror movie,

any science fiction film ending with the aliens or the alien planet actually being Earthlings or the Earth.

But Christopher, they were film cliches from the 1930s. Maybe by now they'd seem fresh again!

I am very curious as to what what was intended. Maybe a "film clip cache" that was almost edited to "seven film clips"?
Posted by JoeDaJuggler  on  Sat Oct 20, 2007  at  04:27 PM
Also from the article:

They, however, decided not to open the 11 other compartments that were sealed with a welding lead.

Roderos and Valmoria said they would only open the sealed compartments in the presence of an American government representative.


I guess a government representative is OK. . . if Geraldo's not available.
Posted by JoeDaJuggler  on  Sat Oct 20, 2007  at  04:31 PM
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