This Canadian man started a local currency just by cutting national bills in half

Twenty-dollar Canadian bills
(Image credit: iStock)

How do you make a new local currency that isn't easily counterfeited? Take a secure national currency and cut the bills in half, apparently. That's what residents of Gaspesie, a region in northern Quebec, Canada, are doing, Fast Company reports.

Martin Zibeau wanted a way to keep money circulating in Gaspesie among small businesses, but he didn't want to design bills that could easily be photocopied. His solution, a currency called the demi that some local shops are now accepting, couldn't be more straightforward. By cutting a Canadian $20 bill in half, Zibeau gets $10, and by cutting a $10 bill in half, he gets $5.

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Julie Kliegman

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.