When I was in grade school, we went on a tour of a bank (this was probably 1977, give or take a year). They showed us a couple of high-denomination bills which they still had (I want to say that it was a $1000 and a $5000), which we all thought were just amazingly cool.
For years The Horseshoe Casino in downtown Las Vegas had a display with 100 $10,000 bills. It was a million bucks right before your eyes.
Then, of course, there’s the legendary 63 000 000 dollar bill…
Sheeeeeeiiiiit…I can remember when you could get three eggs for no more than 80 billion. It’s no wonder I eat less omelets these days.
mmm
Everyone knows the $10,000 bill has all the presidents on it. And they’re having a party.
Just give him a can of hair spray and starch. 
Not to mention that in the unlikely event the store rips you off, the credit card company gives you at least some protection. I’m not sure about debit cards. Plus, we get cash back on our credit card, and never carry a balance, so it is cheaper than cash.
The last time that I checked, there was a $100,000 USD bill at the American History Museum (Smithsonian) on the National Mall in DC.
I’ve made some fairly large legal purchases over the past year, and neither company would accept cash. I had to get a cashier’s check, and even that was verified with the bank to make sure it was legit.
Carrying large sums of cash is stupid and dangerous. All it takes is someone lifting your wallet or holding you up and it’s gone forever.
I stopped by in late Oct 2010 and it was still there. The Hope Diamond was still a few buildings down. They were locked up. Both of them. Imagine my disappointment.
Obligatory Karl Malden reference.
For the younguns who have no idea what we’re talking about:
Like Suburban Plankton said, the problem is making change. It’s very rare for people to be paying for a purchase of exactly $20 with a $20 bill. So, that means you need some combination of $1/$5/$10 bills to make up the difference. And if *everybody *is handing you $20s… your stash of smaller bills is going to run out very quickly. Unfortunately, because $20 is the most common denomination dispensed by ATMs, it’s also the one that most people tend to carry around.
What do you mean by “legal items?” Many sellers don’t want to deal with large bundles of cash, things like mortgage closings and other real estate dealings require cashiers checks - for security of the loan officers/title closers/RE agents especially, so they don’t have to carry cash at times when they can’t take it directly to the bank for deposit, and for the bank to avoid having representatives take off with bundles of cash.
As for other large purchases, why would I take a trip to the bank just to get cash to make a trip to a store where I can use a debit card from the same bank and draw from the same account? It’s a hassle to go to the bank, I take a trip there maybe once every 6 months.
More fun with hyperinflation - check out Hungary, the worst in world history, where, in 1946, prices doubled every fifteen hours: Hyperinflation - Wikipedia
I addition to the reasons already stated, I’m going to guess that you were buying something at a convenience store. The amount of money kept in the till of most convenience stores is very small in order to discourage robbery.
You may even see a sign posted along the lines of “No more than $150 is kept in cash register.” The clerks routinely dump excess cash into a secure slot as it builds up. The theory being that a robber will think twice before risking jail over such a small amount.
Of course most robbers aren’t even thinking at all. But the general idea is to reduce temptation and protect employees by limiting access to cash.
We owe the € 500 notes to the Germans, who, for some reason, are accustomed to make large payments in cash.
I think I’d have a hard time finding someone here in France accepting an € 500, or even an € 200 note in payment (out of fear it would be counterfeit). Maybe criminal types would do so, as mentioned by some posters.
From what I’ve seen standing in line at Costco and Sams, a lot of shop keepers don’t deposit most of their receipts in the bank. Most of it just gets recycled into new inventory or pay other expenses, so paying for a computer for cash doesn’t seem that odd.
It is a totally different world from someone who is paid by direct deposit and in theory could go through the whole week without using cash or even checks.
Here, trillie trillie trillie trillie trillie.
Wait, standing in line at Costco and Sam’s Club and watching strangers is now a cite, somehow? Seeing people pay for purchases there with cash somehow tells you that “most” of a business owner’s cash income is not deposited but rather used to pay other expenses? :dubious::dubious::dubious:
When I was a manager at a coffeeshop, you know what I did with *all *of the cash when I closed up for the night, sans the amount that we would need to start the drawer in the morning? Walked across the street and deposited it at the bank.