Old Money....You Don't Know Me!

An intriguing thing happened to someone I might know. This person, we'll call him "Spiffy", showed me a fistful of sequential, crisp, freshly printed-smelling old-style $20 bills. Innocent enough I guess.

These bills were from 1969.

Alegedly, Spiffy received them from a Wells Fargo cash machine.

Now, I have a few theories about the source of this old money. Let's just hope this guy is on the level and not some 2009 Bonnie and Clyde.

1) We'll go with his thoughts first. Someone found a stack in grandma's sewing machine and brought them to the bank. I guess that is possible but would they still have that freshly printed smell?

2) Maybe this is bailout money from the Feds. Could it be that the bank bailout money sent to the banks was just old cash that the Reserve had in the back corners of the warehouse?

3) Recently, I received some crisp, smelly $20 bills (legitimately of course) from a Wells Fargo machine but they were 1989. A mere 20 years old vs Spiffy's bills that are 40 years old. I am almost 40 and while I have not been circulated or washed, I don't smell very new. Perhaps Wells Fargo found them in an old Stagecoach somewhere and decided to put them into circulation.

4) Maybe Wachovia is the culprit. Wells Fargo after all did just acquire them. Perhaps Wachovia had the old money stashed.

5) Lastly, and I did not want to go here....maybe our guy Spiffy is up to no good.

Closed circuit to Spiffy....you don't know me when they strap you to the polygraph machine and make you explain yourself. Hopefully, you have spent them. Perhaps you'll finally get the flat screen you have been longing for. No matter what, get rid of those bills. I think they are highly suspect.