A few months after the current offset-portrait $20s began to replace the old-style centered-portrait $20s I took a cruise to Alaska.
In one of the tourist shops in one of the tourist towns I tried to buy something from the American college kid staffing the store. Using a new $20. He was certain it was some kind of fake; he said it looked nothing like a real US $20 with the small centered portrait.
Neither I nor the other ship tourists in the shop could convince this kid. Despite the fact all of us had some of these new bills. Fortunately the owner / manager showed up about then and patiently explained to the kid that US money is changing and this is how the new stuff looks. He was real dubious but took the money anyhow.
This was close to the end of the tourist season so it’s a good bet the kid had been working in that shop for at least a couple months before I showed up. So I have a hard time believing this was the first new-style $20 the kid had ever been offered.
To this day I don’t know if the kid was stupid, just fell off the turnip truck, or was screwing with me for the lulz.
Those notes are no longer being printed, but they still have the same face value. They’re still legal tender. If you come across a stash of those old bills under Granny’s mattress, they’re still money.
That’s not what the Indian government is doing. After a certain point, the old notes will be worthless.
As mentioned, no we didn’t. It’s a significant difference to say outstanding money is no longer money, than to just discontinue issuing notes of a certain denomination, let alone just change the design of notes of a continuing denomination (the even less apt comparison somebody else gave).
It would not bring the world economy instantly crashing down for the US to demonetize old bills, but it would not be a trivial thing as world’s de facto reserve currency, even though paper currency is a small % of the total USD money supply. It’s not trivial even for India to do it, but still not comparable to the US doing it.
That said, some of the effect sought by India is eventually achieved by all countries in gradually changing their money’s design. The effect that is of forcing holders of old cash stashes to turn them in at banks and potentially flag themselves for further investigation of how they got the money. Even where you don’t demonetize old bills, eventually they become hard to pass to merchants etc. and, assuming they don’t gain a curiosity premium over face value*, the holders tend to eventually be forced to take them to banks. It just takes a long time.
*old US $500’s $1000’s and $10,000’s are worth a little more to many times face value depending on the particular issue, so typically no reason to turn them in at banks at only face.