Even banks struggle with this https://meduza.io/en/feature/2025/05/30/old-money-new-proble...
Goes to show how viable cash is as a store of value for most of the world.
I have lived in, and briefly worked in a bank in, in a country where people do use USD, GBP etc. notes as a store of value, sometimes in large amounts (you hear about that when they get burgled!).
Anyway key point is your USD better be mint and at least 2018 or they will refuse it... Same at currency exchanges in most of south east Asia that have their own currency.
> and briefly worked in a bank in,
I suspect this might be where the confusion stems from, if you're thinking of places where people go to banks you might be thinking a bit too fancy.
I'm thinking of stuff more like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCDQpm6f_pU
>According to that article it has nothing to do with condition, but with the lack of anti-counterfeiting protection on older notes.
I'd say the age of the money has everything to do with condition, and it matters a lot.
Somaliland is pretty extreme example and not representative of "most of the world". It is extremely poor, isolated because almost nowhere recognises it as a country which cuts it off from payment systems and currency markets.
I have no idea whether they claim is true or not in extreme places, but those places are not "most of the world".