When you spend a dollar in cash, where does it go to after it enters the cashiers till? For many, the thought of an adventure stops when it is out of our sight. Some people even think that cash, after spent, goes back to the bank where it is destroyed and replaced.
In fact, most cash that is still in good condition is redistributed back to people. The “natural” circulation of cash can leave a dollar bill in many different places all around the US — even the world.
A site called, Where’s George (www.wheresgeorge.com) set out in 1998 to allow people to track where their money goes after it is spent. The process is simple: You “register” your cash on Wheresgeorge.com by entering the bill type ($1, 5, 10, 20, etc), the serial number, and the year/series. From there, you can mark the condition of the bill, where you got it, and any other interesting things. Then, you write across the top of the bill “wheresgeorge.com” in hopes that the next person to receive the bill will go to that website and type in the serial number of the bill.
I registered quite a few spare bills of mine, so far I have not received any hits.
Here is an example of a bill that has traveled a long ways. It is the most used bill currently in their database.
