Track Money

Have you ever seen a stamp such as "Track this bill at..." followed by a URL on a bill before? One of the benefits of the World Wide Web is that anyone can track the natural and geographic circulation of currency. This article will tell you how to watch your bill circulate all over your country and even the world!

Steps

 * 1) [[Image:Where's_George_Registration_953.JPG|thumb|Where's George registration.]] Register at a website that tracks your currency (see Sources and Citations below). While registering is optional, it gives you the benefits of email notifications, online reports, and a user profile. In this article, we'll go step-by-step through Where's George, which tracks U.S. currency, but the steps are similar for other sites. When filling out forms, don't lie about your location (e.g. zip code) because it is how people find out what city the currency in question has been in before.
 * 2) [[Image:Curled up Currency 7329.jpg|thumb|The serial number is the letters and numbers in green.]]Click on Enter a Bill and enter any bill's serial number (green numbers), series year, and any other information you want. You may want to add a map from the Bank of Frank, which creates a "bill path" map.
 * 3) [[Image:Image1246.jpg 3902.jpg|thumb|An example of a marked one-dollar bill.]]Mark the bill. Marking the bill is optional, but if you place the web page address on it, you will get more 'hits' on your bills. Buy a stamp or use a waterproof ink pen.
 * 4) [[Image:Spending_money_260.jpg|thumb|Spending money at Hunter Farms.]]Spend the bills at places such as coffee shops, the ice cream store, convenience stores, etc. where people will get it as change. The busier the place, the better. Within a month or two, and/or 100 bills entered and spent, you'll probably get an email that says someone found one of your bills. Depending on the size of your community, your time between first-entry and first-hit could be more or less.

Tips

 * Always Enter your bill first, then Mark them, then Spend them, or EMS
 * Stamp or write the web address clearly on your bills. More people will re-enter them in if you do!
 * Spend your currency where people will get it as change, and hopefully travel far away with it.
 * All denominations of currency are able to be entered, but one and five dollar notes are the most popular.
 * Don't worry about legality of stamping bills. Quoting from the Where's George FAQ,
 * "Where's George? does not encourage the defacement of U.S. Currency. The law defines 'illegal' defacement as defacement that renders bills unfit to be re-issued. For the legal details from the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, please Click Here"
 * It is not necessary to write on, or stamp, any bills. People who are active in "Where's George" know this and use bills whether they are stamped or not.

Warnings

 * Depositing large amounts of stamped money in the bank may cause the bank to be suspicious of you and may also cause serious problems for the "Where's George?" website and community. Understand that depositing any of your "Where's George?" bills in the bank violates the user guidelines of the site and can lead to your account being terminated.
 * Writing on or defacing banknotes is illegal in some countries (the US not included). Even though the law is rarely enforced, it may lead to the note being removed from circulation by a bank.
 * Writing on or defacing banknotes is illegal in some countries (the US not included). Even though the law is rarely enforced, it may lead to the note being removed from circulation by a bank.

Things You'll Need

 * An Internet connection.
 * Dollar bills
 * (Optional) A stamp and ink pad, and/or a waterproof ink pen.

Related Tips and Steps

 * How to Detect Counterfeit US Money
 * How to Have a Hobby
 * How to Save Money
 * How to Raise Money
 * How to Make Money
 * How to Lend Money to a Friend

Sources and Citations

 * Where's George
 * Track Your Dollar - A less-developed website similar to Where's George.
 * AboutUs.org: Category:Tracking Bank Notes
 * Bureau of Engraving and Printing
 * Tracking currency:
 * Australia - The Money Tracker
 * Canada - Where's Willy
 * China - Where's Renminbi
 * Europe - EuroBillTracker
 * Russia - Где Рубль?
 * South Africa - Where's My Bucks
 * Sweden - SEK Tracker or Sedlarna
 * Switzerland - CashFollow
 * Taiwan - Where's New Taiwan Dollar
 * United Kingdom - Find Lizzy

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