Any different old USD note and new note?

Collwing wrote:

Are there anybody has experience exchange USD in Vietnam with a different rate for the old 100$ note and new 100$? Why they do like that??

It never happened to me but yes, I heard they "prefer" new 100$ bills at the airport.
Where did it happen ... In a bank or in a jewelry shop?

I have faced this outside of Bank, I withdrew money from the bank and went to money exchanger to exchange, I thought it was only one place,  but it's the same thing everywhere in Saigon, they give a different price for old and new notes.

Ok thanks for the head's up. For either bill, note that they need to be in near new condition, especially for banks.  Just so there is no confusion, you are really talking about 'old style':


versus 'new style':


One problem to watch out for is the stupid blue plastic strip on these. A bank rejected two of mine because there is a tendency for the paper to tear at the edge of the strips. It is a "tearable" design, should have been all plastic like Vietnamese bills.

The whole preference for new $100 bills is ridiculous.  US currency is printed on paper made from silk and is maybe the physically strongest of any country's.  At the same time, the US keeps bills in circulation much longer than most countries.  I teach a lesson on US currency to Japanese students who are in Hawaii for a short time.  I wrinkle a bill up, grab the ends and snap it out.  They all gasp because that would tear their currency in half.

It is particularly ridiculous that the banks, as opposed to the gold shops, will not take partially torn bills.  They have access to the State Bank of Vietnam which is the central bank and the State Bank of Vietnam can surely trade bills with the US Federal Reserve Bank.  US banks will actually accept a bill torn in half as long as both serial numbers are among the pieces.

I wonder if someone could make some money by posting signs that they are willing to buy up torn $100 bill for $50 and then send them back to the US for a tidy profit.