The other day, I came across a very unusual 1 Dollar bill.



The colorful stamps with the writing "Track this bill: www.wheresgeorge.com" and
"See where I've been and Track where I go next!" piqued my interest.

So I went to the tracking site, entered the serial number of the bill, my zip code and - bam! - it gave me the history of the bill. It said:

This bill has travelled 264 Miles in 117 Days, 23 Mins at an average of 2.3 Miles per day. It went from Springfield, OR to Vancouver, WA and finally landed here in La Pine.

How cool is that?

But. Is it an utter waste of human time and resources - or the most clever and pervasive marketing idea to ever hit this universe? (the site has various ads, but for a small contribution, you can become a member and see the site without ads).

I can't decide. One part of my brain says "Man, this is soooo freaking pointless." The other part says "Man, this is so freaking cool."

What do *you* think? And have you ever found a marked bill like that?

Not only have I seen them, but R used to enter in all the money in his wallet everytime he was bored. I think he stopped though. Either he found a new hobby, or he doesn't have any cash.

I see them all too often. DH is a bartender, so his tips will sometimes have these stamps. I think it's genuis! The person who started it is making money by tracking money without any of his own money. Pretty freakin' cool.

Sounds like I'm travelling the wake at the flat end - again...

I had no idea even that there was such a thing as this bill tracking until I came across my bill, and here are people who have done and seen it already - and for a long time!

Sigh. I'm so tragically un-hip.

Where's George has been around since the dawn of the 'net. I remember putting bills into it back in the early-90s, when this kind of stuff was stupidly unique.

Now scientists are using Where's George data to see how a virus might bounce around the county (it's not totally scientific, obviously, but it makes for an interesting model).

guess I'm unhip also, never heard of this but I think it's pretty cool. I'm gonna blame it on the fact that I spend my money faster than I can look at it. i kinda would think about all the different places old coins had been.

b

hehe, I enjoyed the reference to Canadian currency too (although I dont often see that up here).

That likely is due to the fact that we now have $1 and $2 coins and rarely do you get a dollar or two-dollar bill unless you go to the bank and ask for one!

I had heard about this a long time ago (since the 'dawn of the net might be quite true -I am old enough for that) but I had forgotten!

Thanks for the snap-outa-it

I got one too in California. I did went on the web site and entered my serial number. But I was disappointed to find only 1 history item with my bill. I think the whole idea is interesting though.

Hey that's my bill :o)

Yea I know I'm a couple of years late posting but I just found out about it.
WG is a waste of time and loads of fun all at once. I do enjoy seeing where they go, I've had bills turn up on every corner of the planet from Iraq, Korea, Moscow...and even the Antarctic!

Next to geocaching this is one of the best sites online for family fun.