# writing checks in hex **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200 "2005-04-26T18:00:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![hiebram](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5fc32e/32.png) [@hiebram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hiebram)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/1 "2005-04-26T18:00:48Z")
Is there any reason I can’t legally write checks in hexadecimal? America doesn’t have any official language, and I can’t imagine we’d have bothered to make decimal our official numbering system. I thought about writing checks in binary, but then I realized how much I might end up overpaying for things, if the clerk didn’t catch on. In order to make it obvious, I’d probably start with something calculated to give me a letter in at least one digit. Converting cents to hexcents (or whatever the term should be) would be a PITA. Hiebram ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/2 "2005-04-26T18:19:08Z")
And the point of doing so would be…? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/3 "2005-04-26T18:23:53Z")
And how would you write the amount out in words? “Eff hundred, beety-eight dollars and sixty-cee cents”… ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/4 "2005-04-26T18:30:26Z")
Image if government expenditures were expressed in hex. I can’t wait until DOD buys something that costs (decimal) 3,735,928,559. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/5 "2005-04-26T18:55:40Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Image if government expenditures were expressed in hex. I can’t wait until DOD buys something that costs (decimal) 3,735,928,559. OK, I’ll bite, what does this number spell in hex? (I can’t find a good online calculator.) ---
**Author:** ![aktep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f0a364/32.png) [@aktep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aktep)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/6 "2005-04-26T18:57:27Z")
DEADBEEF And the windows calculator converts just fine (in scientific mode) ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/7 "2005-04-26T18:57:28Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > OK, I’ll bite, what does this number spell in hex? (I can’t find a good online calculator.) DEAD BEEF ---
**Author:** ![Agent\_Foxtrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc29f/32.png) [@Agent\_Foxtrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agent_Foxtrot)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/8 "2005-04-26T19:03:54Z")
Renew your SDMB subscription! Act now! A year’s worth of fighting ignorance for only $F.5F! (Sorry, only U.S. currency accepted.) Adam ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/9 "2005-04-26T19:10:14Z")
> [@aktep](#): > > DEADBEEF > > And the windows calculator converts just fine (in scientific mode) Holy crap! :smack: I didn’t even know my windows calculator had a scientific mode. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/10 "2005-04-26T19:51:49Z")
I think the reasoning behind why you can’t is that the only legal form of tender accepted by U.S. banks and businesses is the (decimal) dollar. Not the half-dollar, ha’ penny, or thruppence, and especially not the hexadecimal dollar. It would be like writing a check for 8,000 yen at the corner Ralph’s. It’s simply a unit that is not negotiable currency. ---
**Author:** ![Jpeg\_Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@Jpeg\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jpeg_Jones)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2005, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/11 "2005-04-26T19:57:59Z")
Notwithstanding the above, I’ll be quite happy to shop at the 63 cent store from now on. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/12 "2005-04-27T04:05:24Z")
I don’t see how that applies, because using hex doesn’t change the actual type of money being used. It’s still dollars & cents and the amount paid is still the same. The only thing that has changed is how you write down that amount. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/13 "2005-04-27T04:11:34Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I don’t see how that applies, because using hex doesn’t change the actual type of money being used. It’s still dollars & cents and the amount paid is still the same. The only thing that has changed is how you write down that amount. Because no one in the US will accept it, plain and simple. And even if someone accepted the check, you can bet the bank would refuse it. ---
**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/14 "2005-04-27T05:47:47Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > … (I can’t find a good online calculator.) [http://www.google.com/search?q=3%2C735%2C928%2C559%20in%20hex](http://www.google.com/search?q=3%2C735%2C928%2C559%20in%20hex) Enjoy, google can do anything ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/15 "2005-04-27T05:54:57Z")
If I wrote a cheque in Spanish in the States, would it be accepted? How about French? I asked a similar question about cheques in French in English-speaking Canada, and never got a definitive answer… ---
**Author:** ![bob\_loblaw](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f19dbf/32.png) [@bob\_loblaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_loblaw)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/16 "2005-04-27T06:02:28Z")
i recently wrote a cheque for eight and a third cents – a monthly installment on a lost one dollar bet. haven’t heard anything from the bank, though i guess thats a cheque more for framing than cashing… ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/17 "2005-04-27T07:44:12Z")
The potential for misunderstanding is just too great; I’ve often heard people refer to, say, &H100 as ‘one hundred, hex’ - it isn’t one hundred at all of course, it’s two hundred and fifty six (in terms of actual real units). If you pay someone 256 dollars as &H100, it might be nice if they cash it in as $100, but it could just as easily happen with a payment you’re _receiving_. It’s simply Not A Good Idea, or at least not any better an idea than some arbitrary scheme anyone might cook up such as meaning ‘1’ whenever they write ‘9’ and vice versa, or expressing the value as a complement of one hundred million. ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/18 "2005-04-27T09:29:29Z")
Eh? Are you lot completely bonkers? Hexadecimal cheques?? FFS. Thank gawd for G. Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/19 "2005-04-27T10:05:51Z")
“Checks are whatever you can get away with.” – not Marshall McLuhan 😉 In short, a check has to be a physical object (in that an oral statement can’t be a negotiable instrument) that the other party (and the other party’s bank) will accept as payment in lieu of cash. It needs to have the recipent’s name, the payor’s signature and the name of his bank, the amount, the date, and some suitable words of conveyance (“pay to the order of” or the like). That’s it. Beyond that, it’s up to what the parties involved want and what the banks involved will cope with. (The banks will transfer the information to a standard form if the check is on a cow or a shirt or something else the machines can’t cope with.) If there is no prohibition against non-base-10 numbers in the UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) then hex is just fine. If you want some fun, try explaining that 0xcafebabe is a valid number to the average bank teller. 😉 [http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_352b.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_352b.html) > **[What Is The Routing Number On A Check And How Does It Work? | Bankrate](https://www.bankrate.com/banking/routing-number-on-check-how-does-it-work/?prodtype=bank)** > > That string of numbers at the bottom of your check is really important. Find out why. > **[U.C.C. - ARTICLE 3 - NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS (2002)](https://www.law.cornell.edu/ucc/3)** ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2005, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200/20 "2005-04-27T10:55:39Z")
**Sunspace** You got that beety-eight dollars you owe me? **CookingWithGas** > [@](#): > > I can’t wait until DOD buys something that costs (decimal) 3,735,928,559. Shouldn’t the **[USDA](http://www.agmkt.state.ny.us/RFPS.html)** be paying that amount? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/writing-checks-in-hex/301200.md?page=2)