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Comment by blevinstein | Hacker News Reader

500 rupees = $7.52, 1000 rupees = $15.05

These are not large denomination bills.

28 of the latter make up an average Indian's monthly income. It's more significant than $100 is for Americans.

Meanwhile you only need three 500€ bills to make up for the average European income. (And 500€ is 36651 rupees.) Those 500 and 1000 rupees are the largest denomination bills in India, but you need almost 10 times more of them to make up for the respective average income.

In fact, the same is said in Europe about the absolute uselessness of 200 and 500 euro bills. I have only held a 200 euro bill once, and never a 500, but also thanks to the Schengen area it is trivial to (illegally) being insane amounts of money to Switzerland. This is why the EU was pressuring Switzerland to abolish bank secrecy.

> about the absolute uselessness

Yeah, no. Even a relatively small amount like 30k is a major pain in the ass to carry around in 100 euro notes.

30k is what one might pay for a car, for example.

If you're spending 30k, paying an extra 20 for a banker's draft is insignificant. And it's not like you buy a car every week. (I also can't imagine feeling safe carrying anything like that much cash around. What if you lost it?)

Banker's drafts can be an even bigger pain in the ass in the EU, with some banks charging percentages for them... And losing one of those tends to be a Bad Thing too.

Anyway, my point was that despite being rare the 200 and 500 euro notes are far from "absolutely useless".

I really struggle to see how it's useful to an ordinary person. You maybe save a little money, sure, but for a non-1%er the risk just seems completely disproportionate. I mean any dealer/business would accept a bank transfer, right? So it only makes sense in the first place for buying a car person-to-person (and for friends/family a bank transfer would work too). Carrying 30k to meet a more-or-less stranger who knows you're going to be carrying 30k? Sheesh.

Are banker's drafts the same thing as money orders? That's how I paid my cars; they are worthless if stolen (though if you lose them, the money's gone) because only the recipient can convert them back. Banks give them out for the same cost as withdrawing cash, which is a few euros.

correction ... 2.8 of the latter (Rs. 2800/-) . Thats what you mean right?

In India they are. How is conversion to $ relevant?

PS: Denomination is face value and 500 and 1000 are the largest in Indian currency, so you are also wrong from use of the word.

Currency conversions are largely irrelevant to most people's daily life. What matters more is how much you get paid, the cost of house, food, and transportation.

Always think in terms of local currency or you will do much worse than getting down-voted. As my wife says about Chinese currency: "You have to respect the RMB!"

They are, however, the largest denomination bills.

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