Finally got down to see Inglourious Basterds at Cinerama last night (excellent). The scene where the undercover British officer orders three glasses brought about a post-viewing discussion of this video, which I know is like a year old. BTW, what the fuck is up with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Pakistan and some parts of Turkey here?

Grant Brissey covered everything from hard news and technology, to music, film, and visual arts during his time working for The Stranger. Grant's work has also appeared at Geekwire, and in Billboard,...

15 replies on “This Is How People Count the Cash Money”

  1. Interesting. I wonder if the way different regions count their money differently due to cultural attitude about money itself.

    I can’t help noticing that the Russian/Eastern European region counts cash in an incredibly secretive way. A bystandard would have no idea what demoninations were being counted. The style speaks to hording, scarcity and not showing off what you have.

    However in Saudi Arabia and other oil producing states, where wealth is the ultimate status symbol, they flaunt their bankroll when they count, so everyone around will know how flush they are.

    I might be reading too much into this, but it’s something I noticed.

  2. The African system is very open, no chance at tricks, each bill spotlighted for a second.

    I uncurl corners, divide by denominations, and, just as in the video sort bill by bill from one hand to another. I count every day, and know exactly what I have in pocket each am.

    Dad was a cab driver and did that when I was a kid.

    Interesting.

  4. Yep, the ‘Stans are weird! At first I thought, Oh, counting into two piles, s’pose that makes sense… Huh… Maybe five piles?… Come on, now you’re just being silly…

  7. That made me laugh really loud, the Turkmenistan part, because it caught me off guard, but from what I can tell, the rest is accurate based on personal experience. I had never really thought much about how different countries counted money until I watched this.

  9. I’ve always wanted to be able to count money like Face did on the A*Team. He’d just hold a stack of bills up to his ear, riffle it, and announce “You’re $250 short” or whatever.

    I have since learned that not everything on the A*Team was, strictly speaking, realistic.

  10. Please to replicate counting styles with *USED* bills instead of brand-spanking-new crisp bills.

    Yeah, it falls apart with dog-eared, soggy, currency-worn bills, don’t it?

    (BTW, stuttering-counting CHEATER error at 0:29 into the video)

  11. I count by laying it out in a fan pattern. Like cards. 5 twenties per fan. Probably because I worked retail and was responsible for counting the drawers at the start and end of the day and making the bank deposits up. Two people (minimum) were required to balance the accounts.

  15. Hi! Iam from Turkmenistan. But I have never seen people count cash like that! This video is just speculation, made up! most of them is not true at all! I dont think whoever made this, havent been in turkmenistan. yes they count like that but only 2 years old children. I wanna take him for short trip to turkmenistan if you want my brother and would like you to discover 90% of Turkmenistan that you dont even know about!

    Thanks anyway

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